Limosa lapponica; bar-tailed godwit

Japanese: オオソリハシシギ（英語表記）Limosa lapponica; bar-tailed godwit

Charadriiformes, Scolopacidae. Total length 37-41cm. The long, dark beak is slightly curved upwards, which is the origin of its Japanese name. The legs are also long and black. The summer plumage (→Hagoromo) has a black spot on the head, and the head, chest, and belly are reddish brown. The back and shoulders are black with pale reddish brown spots. The wings are gray-brown, with dull white edges. In winter plumage, the feathers on the back are gray-brown along the quills and white towards the edges, forming a pattern. The neck, chest, and flanks are light brown, with pale gray-brown spots on the chest and horizontal stripes of the same color on the flanks. The belly is white. Its breeding grounds range from the northern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula through the Arctic Circle of the Eurasian continent to the Alaska Peninsula. It is a migratory bird that spends the winter on the coasts of western Europe, Africa, southern Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. It breeds in the tundra grasslands, and builds its nest in a depression in the dry ground. They eat insects, earthworms, amphibian larvae, berries (→ berries), seeds, etc. They stop in Japan during their spring and autumn migration, and live mainly in tidal flats and river mouths. (→ Wading birds)

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

チドリ目シギ科。全長 37～41cm。黒ずんだ長い嘴が少し上にそり，和名の由来になっている。脚も長くて黒い。夏羽（→羽衣）は頭上に黒斑があり，頭部，胸，腹は赤褐色。背，肩は黒く，淡い赤褐色の斑がある。翼は灰褐色で，各羽の縁がくすんだ白色。冬羽は背面の各羽が羽軸に沿って灰褐色で，周辺に向かって白くなり，模様をつくっている。頸から胸，脇は淡褐色で，淡い灰褐色の斑が胸に，同色の横縞が脇にある。腹は白い。繁殖地はスカンジナビア半島北部からユーラシア大陸の北極圏を経てアラスカ半島に及ぶ。渡り鳥で，ヨーロッパ西部，アフリカからアジア南部，オーストラリア，ニュージーランドの沿岸で越冬する。繁殖地はツンドラの草原で，巣は乾燥した地面のくぼみにつくる。昆虫，ミミズ，両生類の幼生，漿果（→液果），種子などを食べる。日本には春秋の渡りの途中に立ち寄り，おもに干潟や河口にすむ。（→渉禽類）

出典　ブリタニカ国際大百科事典小項目事典ブリタニカ国際大百科事典小項目事典について　情報

<<: Ota (Hokkaido) - Ota

>>: Osone Tokinaga - Osone Tokinaga