Jack Snipe

Jack Snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus) is the smallest snipe, with short bill, dark glossy back striped gold and a distinctive bobbing feeding motion. 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 hides in marsh vegetation and probes mud for insects and seeds, often flushing silently only at very close range. 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).