A record of Band-bellied Crake on Noshiro, Akita Prefecture

Abstract

I observed a Band-bellied Crake Porzana paykullii in Kazenomatsubara, Noshiro-shi, Akita Prefecture, Japan on June 5, 2022. The total length of the individual appeared to be slightly longer than that of the Black Thrush bathing in the same place, but the body circumference looked more than twice as large. I identified it as a Band-bellied Crake based mostly on plumage such as a blue-grey beak, reddish-brown face, throat, and chest, dark greenish-brown back, black-and-white striped pattern from the lower abdomen to the lower tail, white lines at the tip of the rain cover, and reddish legs. The three previous records of the crakes in Japan were all on islands, and this seems to be the first record of the species observed in Honshu.