Appearance:

Relatively large wader with long orange or greenish (juveniles) legs. Scaly back and medium long, slightly curved and heavy bill. Male in breeding plumage unmistakable with ruff in various colours and patterns. Characteristic upright posture and body shape with long neck, small head and humped back. Conspicuous white oval patches at upper base of tail. Notable difference in size between sexes (male largest). Often seen feeding in meadows and fields when away from breeding ground.

Sound:

Generally silent. Short, muted, nasal, mono or disyllabic grunts sometimes heard.

Social sound:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-photo:A.J. Haverkamp, Licence,Link,

Sounds:Recorded by Jarek Matusiak,http://www.xeno-canto.org ,CC license

Appearance:

Slate grey upperparts with barred white underparts. Female and juvenile sometimes rufous brown. Male with defined grey breast in contrast to barred white belly, female with diffusely barred chest and throat. Yellow iris and thin bill. Wings and tail long and slender, often giving the impression of a small falcon. Often perches with a more horizontal posture than hawks or falcons, i.e. tail pointing backwards and not towards the ground, and drooping wings. In flight wings are not raise above horizontal plane, and it seldom glides like raptors.

Sound:

Song: the well known disyllabic "cuck-coo" with emphasis on first note, and the second note a third lower than the first one. Also a harsh "tchaa tchaa", and a bubbly trill, reminiscent of Little Grebe, uttered by the female.

Male:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC