Long-billed Murrelet

Long-billed Murrelet (Brachyramphus perdix) is a small mottled-brown Asian auk with a slender bill, becoming sharply black-and-white in winter. 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 feeds by diving for small fish in coastal water and is thought to nest inland, like related murrelets. 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).