Cinnamon Bittern

Cinnamon Bittern (Ixobrychus cinnamomeus) is a small Asian bittern whose adult male is rich cinnamon above, while females and young show browner, more strongly streaked plumage. 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 occupies reedbeds, wet grass and rice fields, moving through dense vegetation to catch fish, frogs, insects and other small animals at the water's edge. 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).