Habitat
Large rivers with sandy riverbanks and islands or sandbanks mid-stream, both in open country and forest. During floods also on small streams, pans and lagoons and sometimes on lake shores.
Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Côte dIvoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania [United Republic of], Togo, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Senegambia and Sierra Leone east to southern Sudan, and south through western and central Zaire to north-western Angola; south-eastern Tanzania; R Zambezi and southern Mozambique.
Population
Estimated population is 56,000 - 130,000 (2010).
Status LC
Habitat degradation through decreasing river flows as a result of afforestation, invasive plant species and increasing water abstraction, is the main threat.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Food
Omnivorous. Insects, worms, molluscs, crabs, other small crustaceans and small fish or frogs. Very rarely vegetable matter.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet