Appearance:

A small compact wader with dark legs and short, almost straight dark bill. Noticeably smaller than Dunlin, and with shorter, and straighter bill. Similar in size to Temminck's Stint, but legs dark, tail shorter (and grey) and markings on back less plain. Juveniles with prominent white V on back, and split white supercilium. Upperparts of adults rufous brown in summer, and light grey in winter.

Sound:

Contact call a quite soft, short, high pitched "pit". Sometimes uttered in series, or as soft chattering. Song a cyclic series of thin "peee-peee-peee" rising and falling in pitch.

Contact 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

Sounds:Recorded by Andrew Spencer,http://www.xeno-canto.org ,CC license

Appearance:

Unmistakable in summer with almost all black plumage. White oval wing-patches in all plumages. Only auk with white wing-panels. Bill quite slender and pointed, body and wings rounded. Winter plumage blotched in grey and white, with dark wings (with white coverts). Typically scans for food by frequently dipping forehead in the water.

Sound:

Call surprisingly high pitched. Quite pure, drawn out, plaintive whistling notes in same pitch range as Hazel Grouse.

Contact 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

Sounds:Recorded by David Farrow. http://www.xeno-canto.org .CC license