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 Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park
Common Redshank
Tringa totanus
Wood Sandpiper
Tringa glareola
Green Sandpiper
Tringa ochropus
Curlew Sandpiper
Calidris ferruginea
Common Sandpiper
Actitis hypoleucos
Long-toed Stint
Calidris subminuta
Temminck's Stint
Calidris temminckii
Common Snipe
Gallinago gallinago
Swinhoe's Snipe
Gallinago megala
Eurasian Woodcock
Scolopax rusticola
Black-tailed Godwit
Limosa limosa
Little Stint
Calidris minuta
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.