AFRIKAANS NAME: Bosruiter
LENGTH: 19-21 cm
WEIGHT: 55-65 g
Introduction:
Sexes Alike. Non-breeding: Profuse white spotting on lightish upperparts distinctive. Conspicuous white supercilium extends behind eye; legs yellowish and longer than Green Sandpiper.
Habitat:
Wide range of inland shorelines and freshwater habitats; uncommon at estuaries.
Diet:
Wide range of aquatic and terrestrial insects as well as molluscs, worms, small fish and frogs.
Behaviour:
Generally solitary, or in loose aggregations when foraging. Sometimes forms communal roosts with other birds, particularly Ruff, but also Marsh Sandpiper, Common Greenshank and Little Stint. Roosts standing in shallow water or on wet mud. Swims well. Flight rapid and agile, suddenly accelerating and decelerating.
Nesting:
Non-breeding Palearctic migrant, but some sexual behaviour.
Call:
Take off call is chiff-iff-iff.
Migration:
Overland migrant to southern Africa. Southern African birds breed from Finland to east of Ural Mountains. Departure from Europe starts late June.
Similar species:
Green Sandpiper has broader white rump, tail with broader, more distinct and fewer bars, darker breast, blackish (not white) underwing coverts and relatively short legs. Lesser Yellowlegs larger and longer-necked, with longer, thinner bill.
Distribution:
Found throughout the Eastern Cape.