Common Greenshank
Tringa nebularia
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderCharadriiformes (Shorebirds and Allies)
- FamilyScolopacidae (Sandpipers and Allies)
- GenusTringa (Shanks, Tattlers, and Allies)
- SpeciesTringa nebularia (Common Greenshank)
About the Common Greenshank
The common greenshank (Tringa nebularia) is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae, the typical waders. The genus name Tringa is the Neo-Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek trungas, a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific nebularia is from Latin nebula "mist". Like the Norwegian Skoddefoll, this refers to the greenshank's damp marshy habitat.
Its closest relative is the greater yellowlegs, which together with the spotted redshank form a close-knit group. Among them, these three species show all the basic leg and foot colours found in the shanks, demonstrating that this character is paraphyletic. 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 east across the Palearctic. It is a migratory species, wintering in Africa, the Indian subcontinent... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Common Greenshank in Cévennes National Park
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Cévennes National Park
Green Sandpiper
Tringa ochropus
Wood Sandpiper
Tringa glareola
Spotted Redshank
Tringa erythropus
Jack Snipe
Lymnocryptes minimus
Common Sandpiper
Actitis hypoleucos
Eurasian Woodcock
Scolopax rusticola
Eurasian Stone-curlew
Burhinus oedicnemus
Yellow-legged Gull
Larus michahellis
Black-bellied Plover
Pluvialis squatarola
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Larus fuscus
Eurasian Dotterel
Charadrius morinellus
Black-headed Gull
Chroicocephalus ridibundus
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.