Appearance:

Small, stout, unmistakable raptor with pale grey plumage. Strikingly broad wings and short tail. Large, round, owl-like head with black "mascara" and short neck. Underside of wing-tips, and upper median and lesser coverts black. Immature birds often with rusty underparts and white fringes to flight feathers and scapulars. Glides with wings raised high like a harrier. Frequent and skilfull hovering.

Sound:

Not very vocal. A soft "Pjuu-harrr". Starting as a mellow, ascending whistle and ending with a harsh screech. Also uttered without the harsh ending, or only a Barn Owl-like screech. Other sounds: rapid series of soft "kekekekekekekekeke" and short whistles.

Alarm call:

Distribution:

Xeno-canto: map

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

CC

CC-sound:Bernard BOUSQUET, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Large Tringa with upcurved bill. The mainly white and pale grey plumage (and head) gives it a pale appearance. Upper parts speckled in black in summer plumage. Upper side of wings rather dark, back lighter grey with conspicuous long white wedge. Tail white, with diffuse grey barring. Back of juveniles with v-shaped scales/fringes. Legs greenish to grey-green. Wing beats quite deep and sometimes with "slow motion" like quality.

Sound:

Most heard is a characteristic, trisyllabic "tew-tew-tew" (sometimes two or four syllables). Can resemble redshank, but pitch more stable, and not falling notably. Each syllable is clearly separated and equally emphasized. Song a clear disyllabic "cloo-eeee", repeated in cycles but each phrase clearly separated. At close range a short creaky sound is audible (between each phrase). Redshank may sing in a slightly similar way, but in continuous, linked phrases.

Flight call:

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-sound:Sonnenburg, Licence,Link.