- Calidris temminckii
Identification
13.5-15cm. Yellow legs, white outer tail feathers, plain brown upperparts and head, white underparts, darker breast. The breeding adult has brighter rufous mantle feathers.
Distribution
Northern Europe and Asia. Breeds in southern Scandinavia and occasionally Scotland. Strongly migratory, wintering at freshwater sites in tropical Africa and south Asia.
Taxonomy
Habitat
Freshwater marshes, pools and lakes, creeks and lagoons in estuaries.
Behaviour
It nests in a scrape on the ground, laying 3-4 eggs. Males establish small territories and mate with a female who lays a first clutch of eggs. She then moves to a second territory and mate, and lays a second clutch that she incubates herself. At the same time, her first male may mate with an incoming second female, who lays her second clutch on his territory. The male thereafter incubates his first mate's first clutch alone.
They forage in soft mud with some vegetation. The diet includes insects, larvae, worms, crustaceans and molluscs.
Bird Song
<flashmp3>Calidris temminckii (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program