Solitary Snipe

Solitary Snipe (Gallinago solitaria) is a large, heavily built mountain snipe with broad buff stripes and a very long straight 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 inhabits high streams, bogs and wet meadows in Asia, probing soft ground for worms and other invertebrates. 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).