Zitting Cisticola

Zitting Cisticola (Cisticola juncidis) is a tiny grassland warbler with streaked brown upperparts, a rufous rump and a rounded tail tipped white. 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 inhabits tall grass, marsh edges and cultivated land, hunting small insects near the ground; breeding males perform a bouncing display flight punctuated by regularly repeated zit notes. 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).