Meadow Pipit

Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) is a small brown pipit with fine dark streaks above and across the pale breast and relatively long pale hind claws. 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 open grasslands, moors and tundra across western Eurasia, feeding on insects and seeds on the ground; most populations move south or toward coasts and lowlands in winter. 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).