Bar-tailed Godwit

Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) is a large wader with an upturned bill, barred tail and brick-red breeding underparts. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It probes coastal mudflats for worms and shellfish and undertakes exceptionally long nonstop migrations between Arctic breeding and southern wintering grounds. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).