Greenshank (Common Greenshank)
Tringa nebularia
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Distribution Britain 243 (-4.0%) Ireland 1 (0%)
Numbers breeding: Britain 1,350 Ireland 0 European status: 70,000 (2% in Britain and Ireland =4) British population trend: seems stable and secure How likely are you to record it? 32 squares (0.7%) Ranked 125= [101=] |
This very elegant and rare wader was only found to be breeding in Scotland about 180 years ago and immediately became a prized bird for egg collectors. Eventually it was realised that the birds were mostly breeding in the higher marshes of the bigger rivers, west of the Great Glen. The upper reaches of the Spey were colonised about 100 years ago — possibly following forest clearance — and birds bred, and breed, in the Hebrides. One pair was known in Ireland in the early 1970s and they may breed irregularly now. The future seems secure.
The following Bird On! sketch is available:
Greenshank
From
The
State of the Nations Birds
Copyright © 2000 by Chris Mead