Semipalmated Plover

Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) is a small plover with orange legs, a short bill and a single dark breast band, with partial webbing between the toes. 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 around Arctic and subarctic shores and uses beaches, tidal flats and muddy margins during migration, taking insects, worms and small crustaceans from the surface. 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).