Pied Wheatear

Pied Wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka) is a boldly patterned wheatear whose breeding male has a pale crown and back, black face and throat and a white rump contrasting with dark wings. 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 rocky open country from south-eastern Europe across central Asia to China, hunts insects on the ground and migrates to India and north-eastern 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).