JAPAN - Toki

Thanks so much Minami for the card. She went to a post office near the Sado Japanese Crested Ibis Conservation Center and the postcard was postmarked the first day of Bird Week. The birds is calls Toki. This endangered species is in the brink of extinction.

"The crested ibis (Nipponia nippon), also known as the Japanese crested ibis or Toki (トキ), variously written in kanji as 朱鷺, 鴇, 鵇, 鴾, or 桃花鳥, and written in hanzi as 朱䴉 or 朱鷺, is a large (up to 78.5 cm (30.9 in) long), white-plumaged ibis of pine forests. Its head is partially bare, showing red skin, and it has a dense crest of white plumes on the nape. 

This species is the only member of the genus Nipponia. They make their nests at the tops of trees on hills usually overlooking their habitat. Crested ibises usually eat frogs, small fish, and small animals. 

At one time, the crested ibis was widespread in Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, and Russia. It has now disappeared from most of its former range. The last wild crested ibis in Japan died in October 2003, with the remaining wild population found only in Shaanxi province of China until reintroduction of captive bred birds back into Japan in 2008. They were previously thought to be extinct in China too, until 1981 when only seven ibises were seen in Shaanxi, China. Extensive captive breeding programs have been developed by Japan and China to conserve the species."