Northern Wheatear

Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) is a small ground chat with a grey back, black mask and wings and a diagnostic white rump and tail pattern in the breeding male. 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 stony country across Eurasia and parts of Arctic North America, nests in rock holes or burrows, feeds on ground insects and migrates entirely to Africa. 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).