Terek Sandpiper

Adult, fresh summer plumage
Photo by Ayuwat J
Beppu, Oita, Japan, May 2010

Xenus cinereus

Identification

Length 22–25 cm (8¾-9¾ in), wingspan 57–59 cm, weight 50–126 g

Adult, worn summer plumage
Photo by AJDH
Saudi Arabia, July 2006

• Very long, slightly upcurved bill, black with a brownish-yellow base
• Upperparts and breast buffy grey to silvery grey
• Dark carpal patch
• Mainly white underparts
• Legs 'dayglo' orange-yellow, shorter than most Tringa 'shanks'.
• Breeding adult: broad black scapular stripes and black streaks on coverts; white supercilium
• Winter adult: paler and greyer; scapular line inconspicuous
• Juvenile: duller, sandy brown; scapular line inconspicuous
• In flight shows white trailing edge on secondaries and inner primaries (as in Common Redshank but less broad)

Distribution

Breeds in far eastern Europe (locally in Finland, and from Belarus and Ukraine eastward) and across northern Asia. Winters on tropical coasts in east Africa, south Asia and Australia.

Rare, but regular visitor to the British Isles, mostly on passage but one or two wintering records.

Taxonomy

Winter plumage
Photo by Alok Tewari
Jamnagar, Coastal Gujarat, India, January-2016

This is a monotypic species^[1].

Formerly often included in the genus Tringa, but genetic evidence shows it to be more closely related to Phalaropes Phalaropus^[2].

Habitat

Breeds beside muddy or gravelly riversides and lakeshores; typically nesting among greyed driftwood on riverbanks. On migration on freshwater marshes. In winter, coastal mudflats, estuaries and mangroves.

Behaviour

Diet

Food is small aquatic invertebrates; it chases insects and other mobile prey, and sometimes runs to the water's edge to wash its catch.

Breeding

They lay 3-4 eggs in a lined ground scrape.

Vocalisation

In flight
Photo by Karim Madoya
Lokawi, September 2006

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Gibson, R., & Baker, A. (2012). Multiple gene sequences resolve phylogenetic relationships in the shorebird suborder Scolopaci (Aves: Charadriiformes). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 64 (1): 66-72 (abstract).
3. BF Member observations
4. Collins Field Guide 5th Edition
5. Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0 00 219728 6

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Terek Sandpiper. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 22 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Terek_Sandpiper

External Links

Search for photos of Terek Sandpiper in the gallery

Search for videos of Terek Sandpiper in the gallery

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1