Common Greenshank
Tringa nebularia
Wetlands. Above sandy-brown with white feather edges and back; below white; black bill slightly upturned; long legs greenish.
Allied Waders, Sandpipers
LC
Not Endemic
Description
Common summer visitor, a few all year. A large, long-legged wader. Has clear white underparts like [Marsh Sandpiper] but is larger, with more robust, slightly upturned bill and green-grey legs. In flight, also shows extensive white back and rump, its feet slightly protruding. On take-off calls a diagnostic, loud triple ‘tew-tew-tew’. Usually found singly on coastal or inland waters. Shy and difficult to approach. When flushed towers up and utters its triple call before flying off some distance.
Quick Facts
Size
32 cm - M
Names
A: Groenpootruiter
Z: unompempe
Ss: Mosalakatane Wa Leototala
G: Grünschenkel
Bird Family
A group of small birds usually found along shorelines and wading in shallow water. They usually have longish legs and bills for probing mud, feeding on small insects and invertebrates. Species breed in northern regions and during this time the males assume richly coloured plumage. They migrate south in drab non-breeding plumage at the start of the southern hemisphere summer. Illustrations depict the species in non-breeding plumage, unless otherwise indicated.
Distribution
Gallery
Behaviour
Breeding
Habitat
Usually found singly on coastal or inland waters.
