Swinhoe's Snipe

Swinhoe's Snipe (Gallinago megala) is a cryptic Asian snipe with a long straight bill, patterned brown upperparts and narrow pale back stripes. 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 damp grassland and migrates to marshes and rice fields, probing soft ground for 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).