By TOSHIYUKI TAKEYA/ Staff Writer
August 26, 2016 at 11:00 JST
Editor's note: This is part of a series of videos offering an up-close perspective on the animal kingdom. A special 360-degree video camera system was set up in zoos and other facilities to show how the animals view their world as they interact.
Also visit our special 360-DEGREE LIVES page (http://t.asahi.com/360lives), where you can watch all the previous videos.
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Little terns keep watch for crows and peregrine falcons as they vigilantly guard their young ones.
Catching a glimpse of predators, the parent birds soar into the sky in unison. Making creaking noises, they plunge-dive in a group to chase off the hostile birds to protect their chicks.
The game of survival is taking place on the roof of the Morigasaki Water Reclamation Center in Tokyo’s Ota Ward on the opposite shore of Haneda Airport.
The 6-hectare area is one of Japan’s largest colonies for little terns where bird protection group Little Tern Project has been conducting research on the endangered species since 2001.
The roof is covered with seashells and gravels for the birds to breed, with similar-colored chicks and eggs found blending in with the ground.
A video camera was planted on the ground near a nest with two chicks. After a while, their parent flew in to the greeting of the little ones’ chirps.
But chicks are constantly targeted by predators. Although an anti-crow measure is in place, one chick was taken by a crow while the camera was planted.
According to Little Tern Project head Wataru Kitamura, about 1,500 little terns came to the colony this year. About 500 chicks hatched by early June, but 90 percent of them were nowhere to be seen by the end of the month.
“The damage caused by crows is severe this year,” Kitamura said. “Still, there are chicks desperately struggling to survive by hiding in gaps. I hope they can make it.”
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