Scientific name: Tringa ochropus Linnaeus, 1758
Bird group: Waders
Field characters. 24 cm. Upperparts black-brown, sparsely spotted with white; head faintly streaked with grey; neck, chest, flanks and upper-belly white, but heavily streaked and marked with grey-brown. Forehead, supercilium, throat, rump and remainder of underparts white; tail boldly barred with 2-4 blackish bars. Rather short and stout bill, dark brown with greenish tinge at base; legs grey-greenish. Unmistakable in flight, with back and underwing seemingly uniformly black, strongly contrasting with white rump, belly and vent; feet do not trail. Outside breeding season similar, but with even less spotting on upperparts and with whiter face, neck and chest. Juvenile resembles adult, but with buff-spotted feather-margins on upperparts. A shy and solitary bird, which bobs head and tail when suspicious. Distinctive flight-action when flushed: first zig-zags close to ground for several metres, then towers and dashes off erratically with jerky wing beats.
Voice. When flushed and in flight a clear, melodious triple "klueet-weet-weet"; song a silvery, yodelling "tittitlooidee-looidee".
Distribution. Decreasing in west of range, but elsewhere a fairly common breeder; inland a locally common passage-migrant, usually solitary, seldomly seen in flock of more than 30 birds.
Habitat. Breeds near freshwater in swampy, woody regions with plenty of cover; often nests in trees in old nests of other species. Outside the breeding season, avoids seashore, and open habitat; mainly a freshwater bird, which can be seen on marshes, lakes, streams, and occasionally salt marshes.
Food. Mainly insects, but also other invertebrates such as spiders, crustaceans, worms and molluscs.