Spotted Redshank

Spotted Redshank is a species of shorebird belonging to the family Scolopacidae. It is a slender, long-legged wading bird, slightly larger than the common redshank. The size of a pigeon, it nevertheless has a more slender and slender look, characterizing the waders, with a long thin and straight beak, marked by a red lower mandible. The plumage is completely different between the winter and the breeding season, which has consequently earned it its name of harlequin. In winter plumage, the Harlequin Sandpiper is entirely pale grey, with a white supercilium descending behind the eye. The legs are red. In breeding plumage, it is entirely black pigmented with white spots. The legs turn black..

SPOTTED REDSHANK

Flight

The Spotted Redshank has a fast, direct flight. Its toes and part of its tarsi extend beyond its tail in flight. In flight, it appears entirely dark with a narrow white oval extending up the middle of its back.

Regime - Diet

A good diver, the Spotted Redshank likes to fish in muddy ponds, so it searches for its food in shallows and swamps where it roams in the water up to its lower abdomen. It feeds mainly on small molluscs which it picks up with its long, slightly curved beak, but also on aquatic insects which it catches on the surface (Coleoptera, Diptera, Trichoptera, Odonata).

Nesting

Spotted Redshank is a breeder of the Palearctic boreal regions. Its breeding range extends mainly from northern Norway to the extreme northeast of Siberia. The nesting period begins towards the end of April. The place is chosen at the edge of the forests, in the moors and the meadows in the vicinity of the waters. It builds its nest in a small depression which it soberly garnishes with grass. The laying is 4 olive eggs spotted with brown incubated by both adults for about 21 days.

Migration

This migratory bird travels in small groups. In France, the migratory flow covers the whole country but the main crossing sites are coastal. On the Mediterranean coast, the Camargue is the main migratory stopover area.

Protection

A huntable species, listed in Appendix II/2 of the Birds Directive, Appendix III of the Bern Convention and Appendix II of the Bonn Convention.

Song

It is distinguished by a very particular disyllabic “ti-ouit” call.

Species sheet