Eurasian Woodcock

Eurasian Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) is a cryptically patterned woodland wader with short legs, long sensitive bill and eyes set far back on the head. 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 probes damp forest soil for earthworms and insects and males perform slow roding display flights at dusk. 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).