Common Greenshank, Groenpootruiter, Grünschenkel, Perna-verde-comum, Archibebe Claro
Spotted in the Alentejo region of Portugal. Greenshank sound
The Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia) is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae, the typical waders. Its closest relative is the Greater Yellowlegs, which together with the Spotted Redshank form a close-knit group.
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Among them, these three species show all the basic leg and foot colours found in the shanks, demonstrating that this character is paraphyletic (Pereira & Baker, 2005). They are also the largest shanks apart from the Willet, which is altogether more robustly built. The Greater Yellowlegs and the Common Greenshank share a coarse, dark, and fairly crisp breast pattern as well as much black on the shoulders and back in breeding plumage.
This is a subarctic bird, breeding from northern Scotland eastwards across northern Europe and Asia. 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.
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.
Like most waders, they feed on small invertebrates, but will also take small fish.
The Common Greenshank is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
Other synonyms:
Afrikaans: Groenpootruiter
Asturian: Chibibí Claru, Mazaricu Pativerdoxu
Azerbaijani: Iri trinqa
Breton: Ar strelleg pavioù gwer
Catalan: Camaverda, Gamba verda, Xerlovita camagroga
Catalan (Balears): Camaverda
Valencian: Xerlovita camagroga
Czech: Vodouš šedý
Welsh: Coeswerdd, Pibydd coeswerdd, Pibydd goeswerdd, Pibydd goeswyrdd
Danish: Hvidklire
German: Gruenschenkel, Grünschenkel
English: Common Greenshank, Eurasian Greenshank, Greater Greenshank, Greenshank, Green-shank
Esperanto: griza tringo
Spanish: Archibebe Claro
Estonian: Heletilder
Basque: Gamba verda, Kuliska zuri, Kuliska zuria
Finnish: Valkoviklo
Faroese: Hvítstelkur
French: Chevalier aboyeur
Irish: Laidhrín Glas
Gaelic: Deoch Bhuidhe, Deoch-Bhiugh
Galician: Bilurico claro, Gamba verda
Manx: Gollan marrey glass
Croatian: Krivokljuna Prutka
Hungarian: Szürke cankó
Indonesian: Trinil betis hijau, Trinil kaki-hijau
Icelandic: Lyngstelkur
Italian: Pantana, Pantana comune, Pantana eurasiatica
Japanese: aoashishigi, Aoashi-shigi
Cornish: Gar wervelen
Latin: Glottis nebularia, Totanus nebularia, Totanus nebularius, Tringa nebularia
Lithuanian: Žaliakojis tulikas, Žaliakuojis tulikas
Malay: Kedidi Kaki Hijau
Dutch: Groenpootruiter
Norwegian: Gluttsnipe, Klyvi
Polish: Brodziec plawny, kwokacz, Kwokacz szary, Kwokaczy
Portuguese: perna verde, Perna-verde, Perna-verde comum, Perna-verde-comum
Romansh: Trintga verda
Russian: Bolshoy Ulit
Scots: Deoch bhuidhe
Northern Sami: Vilgescoavzzu
Slovak: Kalužiak sivý
Slovenian: zelenonogi martinec
Albanian: Qyrylyku i madh
Serbian: Zelenonogi prudnik
Sotho, Southern: Koe-koe-lemao
Swedish: Gluttsnäppa, Skogssnäppa
Swahili: Chamchanga Miguu-kijani
Tamil: [Kottan, Vaya ullan]
Tsonga: N’wantshekutsheku
Xhosa: Uphendu
Travel Birdwatching Holiday Alentejo, Vacation Portugal for birders to see birds on your trip.