Common Snipe

Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) is a cryptic, stocky wader with an extremely long straight bill, striped head and golden-striped brown back. 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 soft mud for worms and insects in marshes and wet meadows, while displaying males drum with vibrating tail feathers. 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).