Medium large. Longish, thin bill that droops at the tip and long legs. Sexes similar.
Adults: Breeding: Nearly all black with white lower back and rump, white edges and notches in feathers on back and wings. Uppertail coverts have white bars. Underwing, white. Eye, dark brown. Bill, blackish, with base of lower mandible orange-red to red, and slightly drooped at tip. Legs, orange-red to red. Non-breeding: Eyebrow, white. Eyering, white. Eyestrip, pale brownish-grey. Crown, hind neck, upper back, scapulars, pale brownish-grey. Lower back, rump, white. Uppertail coverts, tail, wing coverts, barred white and greyish-brown. Flight feathers, dark greyish-brown. Secondaries have white notches on outer webs. Underparts, white. Face, breast, finely streaked with greyish-brown. Underwing, white.
Immatures: Similar to non-breeding adult, but upperparts darker and underparts finely barred with brownish-grey.
Other Names (World)
Spotted Redshank, Dusky Redshank
Family
Scolopacidae (Sandpipers, Snipes, Phalaropes)
Vagrant to the north and north-west of Australia (October - April) and also Seaford, Victoria.
Habitat
Breeds on wet tundra and forest tundra. In non-breeding season muddy margins of lakes, reservoirs, sewerage ponds and shallow freshwater swamps.
Afghanistan (P), Albania (NB), Algeria, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium (NB), Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria (NB), Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, China (mainland) (NB), Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Côte dIvoire, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (P), Cyprus, Czech Republic (P), Denmark (P), Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland (B) (P), France (NB) (P), Gambia, Georgia, Germany (NB) (P), Ghana, Greece (NB) (P), Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Hong Kong (China), Hungary (P), India, Indonesia, Iran [Islamic Republic of], Iraq (NB) (P), Ireland (NB), Israel, Italy (NB) (P), Japan, Jordan (P), Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (NB), Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Moldova [Republic of] (P), Mongolia, Montenegro (NB), Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands Antilles (NB), Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Norway (B) (P), Oman, Pakistan, Poland (P), Portugal (NB), Qatar, Romania (P), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B) (P), Russia (European) (B), Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia (NB), Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia (Slovak Republic), Slovenia (NB), Somalia, South Korea, Spain (NB), Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden (B) (P), Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Taiwan (China), Tajikistan, Tanzania [United Republic of], Thailand (NB), Tunisia, Turkey (NB), Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine (P), United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (NB) (P), USA (NB), Uzbekistan, Vietnam (NB), Yemen.
Vagrant to Angola, Anguilla, Antigua And Barbuda, Australia, Barbados, Botswana, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Lebanon, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Maldives, Martinique, Micronesia [Federated States of], Montserrat, Mozambique, South Africa, St Kitts And Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Food
Insects on Tundra, marine invertebrates on seashores.
Voice
A loud, 'chit, chit, chew-it, chew-it, chew-it, chew-it, chew-it' on being flushed. Also 'chew-it', and 'chit', uttered seperately. A repetitive buzzing 'krruu-ee' uttered in display.
Spotted Redshank (Tringa) [XC581432]
by from Middleton Lakes RSPB, Staffordshire, England, Belgium (nocturnal flight call)
Spotted Redshank (Tringa) [XC435041]
by bernard Fort from Marck, Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France, Germany (flight call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. Breeds in Arctic Eurasia.
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M
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Nest
A shallow depression on the ground, in the open, sparsely lined.
Eggs (Guide)
4; slightly glossy, olive to pale green with brown spots and blotches.
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Similar Species
Common Redshank (Tringa totanus)
Bill straight not drooped. In flight white arcs of trailing wing edges clearly visible. Legs are shorter.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet