- Tringa erythropus
Identification
29-33 cm. Black in breeding plumage, and very pale in winter. Red legs and bill, and shows a white oval on the back in flight. Juveniles are grey-brown finely speckled white above, and have pale, finely barred underparts.
Distribution
They breed in Siberia and winter in Europe, Africa, China and South-east Asia.
Taxonomy
It forms a close-knit group with the Greater Yellowlegs and the Greenshank, which among them show all the basic leg and foot colours of the shanks, demonstrating that this character is paraphyletic (Pereira & Baker, 2005).
Habitat
They breed by pools, marshes and peatbogs. Winters on muddy estuaries.
Behaviour
4 eggs are laid in a ground scrape.
The diet includes insect larvae, shrimps and worms.
Bird Song
<flashmp3>Tringa erythropus (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
