The Amami woodcock (Scolopax mira) is a medium-sized wader. It is slightly larger and longer-legged than the Eurasian woodcock, and may be conspecific.
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.[4]
