White's Thrush

White's Thrush (Zoothera aurea) is a large golden-brown forest thrush with bold black crescent markings across its upperparts and underparts and a striking black-and-white underwing. 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 forages quietly on shaded forest floors, turning leaf litter for earthworms and insects and also eating fruit; northern populations migrate while other populations remain closer to their breeding range. 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).