Draft:Terushima Cormorant Habitat

Tersuhima

Terushima Cormorant Habitat (照島ウ生息地, Terushima U Seisokuchi) is located in Shimokawa, Izumi-cho, Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, and is a habitat for Japanese cormorants designated as a national natural monument. Terushima is a small island made of tuffaceous sandstone with a cliff of 31 meters in height, located approximately 250 meters offshore from the coast of the mainland, and the entire area is designated as a natural monument as a habitat for Japanese cormorants.

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Location of Terushima in Japan

The Japanese cormorant (Phalacrocorax capillatus) is a bird classified in the genus Cormorant, in the order Suliformes, and is known for its use in the traditional fishing method of cormorant fishing in Japan. They mainly live near the coast, and their habitat and breeding grounds in Japan range from the north of Honshu to the Hokkaido coast, as well as islands and cape reefs in northern Honshu. In the winter, they migrate to southwestern Honshu to overwinter. Terushima is located at the southernmost tip of the Tohoku region on the Pacific side, and they usually fly there from October to November and stay on the rocky area of the island, returning to the north of Japan around March to April of the following year, but some visit Terushima throughout the year. Some resident birds are seen, and a small number of these are known to breed on Terushima.