Red-billed Starling

Red-billed Starling (Spodiopsar sericeus) is a pale grey starling with a blackish head, contrasting pale cheek and a conspicuous red-orange bill. 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 is native to southern and south-eastern China, where it uses farmland, woodland edges and settlements, feeding socially on fruit, seeds and insects and nesting in cavities. 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).