Red-breasted Flycatcher

Red-breasted Flycatcher (Ficedula parva) is a small brown-and-white flycatcher whose breeding male has a grey head and orange throat, while females and young lack the orange patch. 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 eastern Europe and central Asia, hunts insects from woodland perches and migrates to South Asia, appearing regularly on passage beyond its main breeding distribution. 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).