Water Rail

Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus) is a secretive rail with a long red bill, grey face and breast, brown streaked back and barred flanks. 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 creeps through dense marsh vegetation, probing mud and shallow water for invertebrates, seeds and small vertebrates. 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).