Species:

Little Owl (Athene noctua)

Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)

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Length (cm):
21-23
19-21
Wingspan (cm):
54-58
38-41
Weight (gram):
140-220
40-60
Size group:
Thrush-size
Thrush-size
Main Texts:
Appearance:

A small, tubby and compact owl with long legs, yellow eyes and stern expression. Head without tufts or any sharp corners, proportionally smaller than in Tengmalm's Owl, and without large, white facial discs. Upperparts greyish brown to buff, with boldest white spots of any small owl in the region. Underparts whitish with heavy, brown streaking. Flight characteristic, with alternating wing flapping and closed wings. Runs, or even hops along the ground. Posture mostly erect, but hunched when in alarm.

Sound:

Song a clear drawn "klooit" resembling Scops Owl, but with different intonation and longer single notes. Tone rises slowly in pitch throughout the call and ends with marked raised pitch, often with a change in timbre to a coarse shriek. Rich repertoire of social sounds: E.g. a clear "klewew", and sharp short "kek kek kek".

Song, contact call:

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See sound file


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

Appearance:

A small, active and quick wader, sharing traits of both Tringa and Calidris type. Most easily identified in the field by it's behaviour and sound. Most distinct plumage feature is the white wedge in front of the wings at the sides of the breast. Body is elongated and legs fairly short and greenish. Constantly bobs body and head. In flight the dark rump and white wing-bars are obvious. Often flickers its wings when flying low above water, especially just before landing.

Sound:

Very vocal with characteristic repertoire of very high-pitched calls. Often heard is a disyllabic call, drawn out and slightly rising in pitch in the second part. This is often repeated in a series of rising tones in a cyclic manner, with approx 5 tones in each cycle.

Flight call, song:

Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file


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

Similar species (image):
Similar species (sound):
Silhouette Group:
Owls
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Waders
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Several different images of the species
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Several different sounds of the species
Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file
Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file