Scientific name: Pluvialis apricaria (Linnaeus, 1758)
Bird group: Waders
Field characters. 26-29 cm. At all seasons characterised by its spangled black and golden upperparts. Underparts black in summer, whitish in winter; underwing whitish with pure white axillaries; tail and rump dark. Birds from northern populations have black face, cheeks, and underparts and a broad white band from forehead, extending over the eye down sides of neck and breast to flanks; in southern populations this pattern less clear cut, with face and throat dusky, flecked and mottled pale buff and white. Bill black, legs green-grey. Juvenile as winter adult but paler above and duller white below.
Voice. Characteristic flight call is a liquid, plaintive whistle "tlui".
Distribution. Common breeding bird of Fenno-Scandia, England and Iceland; scarce elsewhere.
Habitat. In the breeding season on upland moors and peatlands, coastal and riparian tundra. Outside the breeding season on dry grassland, farmland, stubble, floodlands; much less frequently on shore and mudflats.
Food. Feeding method consists of running short distances and stopping to capture prey on ground. Feeds on a great variety of invertebrates, such as beetles, earthworms, insect larvae and pupae, millipedes, and snails; also takes berries, seeds, and grasses.