Rock Sandpiper

Rock Sandpiper (Calidris ptilocnemis) is a sturdy northern sandpiper with yellowish legs and dark, heavily spotted breeding plumage. 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 on Beringian tundra and rocky islands and winters on wave-washed coasts, feeding on molluscs and crustaceans. 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).