Amami woodcock
The Amami woodcock (Scolopax mira) is a medium-sized wader. It is slightly larger and longer-legged than Eurasian woodcock, and may be conspecific.
| Amami woodcock | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Stuffed specimen of Scolopax mira at the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Scolopacidae |
| Genus: | Scolopax |
| Species: | S. mira |
| Binomial name | |
| Scolopax mira Hartert, 1916 | |
This species is a restricted-range endemic found only in forests on Amami Oshima, Okinawa and Tokunoshima.[2] Insofar as its habits are known, they are similar to Eurasian woodcock.
Taxonomy and systematics
The Amami woodcock was originally described as a subspecies of the Eurasian woodcock, due to a juvenile that resembled the Eurasian woodcock in coloration. Later, some argued that the Amami woodcock was a distinct species—Kobayashi in 1979 and Cramp & Simmons in 1983. Comparison between the two species revealed their distinct physical features, and led to the emergence of the Amami woodcock as a distinct species.[3]
References
- BirdLife International (2016). "Scolopax mira". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22693056A93381144. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22693056A93381144.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/amawoo1/cur/introduction
- Brazil, Mark; Ikenaga, Hiroshi (December 1987). "The Amami Woodcock Scolopax mira: Its Identity and Identification" (PDF). Forktail.
Further reading
Shorebirds by Hayman, Marchant and Prater, ISBN 0-7099-2034-2
