Water Pipit

Water Pipit (Anthus spinoletta) is a medium pipit with greyish-brown upperparts and, in breeding plumage, a grey head, broad pale eyebrow and pink-buff underparts. 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 Palearctic mountains and moves to lower wet grasslands and shorelines in winter, walking on the ground to take insects, larvae and other small 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).