Final answer:
The birds on the cover of Susumu Yokota's album Sakura may not represent specific species and could be stylized or fictional. Art historically employs birds symbolically, and without the artist's input, their exact identity remains speculative.
Step-by-step explanation:
The identity of the feathered subjects on the cover for Susumu Yokota's 2000 album Sakura remains unclear. The album artwork is often a creative representation and can include fictional species or a stylized depiction of real species. Without a specific reference to the birds depicted, it's challenging to determine their exact species. In historical and artistic contexts, birds have often been used symbolically or stylistically to convey various meanings, such as freedom, beauty, or the connection between the earthly and the spiritual. The depiction of birds in artwork stretches back centuries, with examples ranging from the Nazca Lines' hummingbird geoglyph to Ustad Mansur's detailed naturalistic paintings of birds from the Mughal era.
Given that the cover may not be a scientifically accurate representation of real-world birds, one might appreciate the choice of birds in the artwork for their aesthetic value or their potential symbolic meaning rather than seeking a precise zoological classification. Artists like Hasegawa Tohaku and Ustad Mansur have shown that birds can be rendered in a myriad of styles, serving different artistic purposes. If the birds in question were intended to be specific species, only the artist or the designer of the album cover would be able to provide clarity on their true identity.