Common Greenshank
Tringa nebularia
Gentle-eyed large wader with a slightly upturned bill. Note overall grayish plumage with white belly and greenish legs. In flight, appears dark above with a broad white stripe up the middle of the back. Slightly larger and lankier than Common Redshank. Usually seen as singles or small groups. Listen for mellow “tewtewtew.” Feeds mainly by striding in water, picking and sweeping with its bill. Breeds across northern Europe and Asia; migrants and wintering birds in Africa, southern Asia and Australia occur in varied wetland habitats.
Identification
Common greenshanks are brown in breeding plumage, and grey-brown in winter. When in water, they can appear very similar to marsh sandpipers but are distinguished by the shape of the lower bill which gives it an upturned appearance to the bill. They have long greenish legs and a long bill with a grey base. They show a white wedge on the back in flight. They are somewhat larger than the related common redshank. The usual call is a rapid series of three short fluty notes syllabilized as teu-teu-teu.[citation needed]<p>Like most waders, they feed on small invertebrates, but will also take small fish and amphibians.[citation needed]<p>The common greenshank is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.[citation needed] In 2024, T. nebularia was listed as Endangered under the Australian EPBC Act.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Tringa nebularia
- Authority
- (Gunnerus, 1767)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Scolopacidae
- Genus
- Tringa
Range and habitat
This is a subarctic bird, breeding from northern Scotland eastwards across northern Europe and east across the Palearctic. It is a migratory species, wintering in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and Australasia, usually on fresh water. It breeds on dry ground near marshy areas, laying about four eggs in a ground scrape.[citation needed]
- Breeding range
- PAL : inland and coastal subarctic to temperate taiga wetlands of Palearctic: n Europe to e Siberia: Scotland, Scandinavia and Baltic states e through temperate Russia to Chukotskiy Pen., Kamchatka and Amurland (se Russia)
- Non-breeding range
- sw PAL, AF, OR, AU : inland and coastal s temperate to tropical Old World: sw, s Europe, Canary and Cape Verde is. (Macaronesia, w of n Africa), Africa, Malagasy region, Middle East, s, se Asia to e China, Indonesian Arch., New Guinea region, Australia and Tasmania, Taiwan, Korean Pen., c, s Japan, Mariana Is. and Palau (w Micronesia)
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Brown Parisoma
Curruca lugens
Remarkably plain brown warbler whose most outstanding features are a finely speckled throat and a white outer tail. Found in the canopy of acacia trees at middle and high elevations. Slow-moving and inconspicuous. Usually seen singly or in pairs. Not very vocal, but does give a simple whistled song and ratcheting calls. Somewhat similar to Garden Warbler, but darker below, with white edges to the tail. Could also be mistaken for female Eurasian Blackcap, but lacks its rufous cap.
Black Munia
Lonchura stygia
A small bird of reedbeds and flooded grasslands in the Trans-Fly of New Guinea. Black underparts and face, brown to blackish upperparts, yellow rump and tail, and a pale silver-blue bill. Usually seen in small flocks. Adult is distinctive in range, but juveniles similar to co-occuring White-spotted and Gray-crowned Munias, but juvenile Black Munias show more contrast between dark upperparts and paler underparts. Gives a short “twe-twee” call.
Chatham Islands Gerygone
Gerygone albofrontata
Small warbler endemic to the Chatham Islands of New Zealand. Note dull olive-brown upperparts and white to yellowish plumage below. Distinctive red eye. Males are larger and have a white forehead, eyebrows, chest, and belly. Females have more subtle coloring. Juveniles have brown eyes and a noticeable yellowish tinge to their underparts. Confined to southern forests and scrub. Forages for insects from tree trunks and leaves. Will come to the ground to forage, often in small family flocks. Listen for loud male song, a repeated 4-note phrase “chi-ch-ch-ch.” Some nests are parasitized by larger Shining Bronze-Cuckoo. Distinguishable from Silvereye by lack of distinctive white eye-ring.
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