White Wagtail

White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) is a slender black, white and grey bird with a long tail that it pumps continually while walking. 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 feeds on insects across open country, shores and urban ground, often running to pick prey from bare surfaces; populations across the Palearctic vary in plumage and many migrate from colder regions. 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).