Forest Wagtail

Forest Wagtail (Dendronanthus indicus) is a distinctively patterned wagtail with olive-brown upperparts, two white wing bars and a black breast band. 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 East Asian forests, uniquely nests in trees and wags its tail sideways rather than vertically, migrating to tropical Asia and feeding on insects from shaded ground and branches. 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).