Long-billed Dowitcher

Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus) is a chunky shorebird with an extremely long straight bill and rich rufous breeding underparts. 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 rapidly in shallow water with a sewing-machine motion and breeds in Arctic wetlands before migrating south. 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).