Ruddy-breasted Crake

Ruddy-breasted Crake (Porzana fusca) is a small rail with deep rufous face and underparts, brown upperparts and barred black-and-white undertail. 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 slips through reedbeds and wet grass, taking seeds and invertebrates and revealing itself most often by its calls. 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).