Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) is a slim brown shorebird with pale-spotted upperparts, long yellow-green legs and a strong white eyebrow. 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 comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in northern bogs and migrates through shallow freshwater marshes and rice fields, taking insects and small aquatic prey. 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).