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Common Greenshank

Common Greenshank

Tringa nebularia

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The Common Greenshank is a large shank of the subarctic, breeding on bogs and forest mires from north-west Europe across the Palearctic and wintering in Africa, South Asia and Australasia. It has long greenish legs, a long, slightly upturned bill and a white wedge up the back visible in flight. Its loud, ringing three-note call is familiar on wetlands. Breeding birds are brown and crisply marked, greyer in winter.

Did you know?

  • Its name nebularia comes from the Latin for “mist”, after its damp haunts.
  • Its three-note call is often written “teu-teu-teu”.

Voice

Call

About the species

Identification

A large shank, grey-brown in summer and pale grey in winter. The long legs are greenish and the long bill slightly upturned. In flight a white wedge runs from the rump up the back. The call is a loud, ringing “tew-tew-tew”. It is larger than Wood Sandpiper and lacks the red legs of Common Redshank.

Family

Scolopacidae

Size

Medium (thrush)

Colours

grey, white, brown, green

About the habitat

Breeds on open bogs and forest mires, often near conifer forest; on migration and in winter estuaries, coasts and all kinds of inland wetlands.

Diet

Mainly small invertebrates such as insects, worms and crustaceans, as well as small fish and amphibians, which it may chase actively in shallow water.

Behaviour

Wades in shallow water, probing or sweeping its bill and sometimes running after small fish; often alone or in small groups. When disturbed it takes off with a loud, sharp three-note call and strong, direct flight. It nests in a ground scrape on dry ground near bogs, often beside a stone or log, laying about four eggs.

Sources

Photo: Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 2.5 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Common-Greenshank.jpg

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC730780, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/730780

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions + Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0; Wikipedia: CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_greenshank

See also