Masked Bunting

Masked Bunting (Emberiza personata) is a small bunting with olive upperparts and yellowish underparts; breeding males show a grey hood with darker facial markings. 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 occurs in Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and Japan, using forest edges and dense undergrowth, taking seeds and insects on or near the ground and making seasonal movements within East Asia. 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).