Blyth's Pipit

Blyth's Pipit (Anthus godlewskii) is a large plain brown pipit resembling Richard's pipit but with shorter legs, a shorter darker bill and a higher-pitched call. 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 field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in open country from Mongolia into neighbouring central Asia, migrates to lowlands of southern Asia and feeds on insects and seeds while walking through grass. 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).