Breeds in a broad band across taiga and forest from
Scotland to Kamchatka, Siberia, migrating in the non-breeding season to the area
from Ireland east to the Mediterranean, southern Asia and Australia and south to
sub-Saharan Africa, including southern Africa. Here it is is common across much
of the region, generally preferring mud, sand or gravel margins of dams and
ponds, inundated short grassland, sandy and muddy riverbeds, natural pans,
salt-works, rocky and sandy beaches, estuaries, salt-marshes, lagoons and
mangroves.
Southern African birds originate from Russia,
with adults getting to the region in the period from July-September
while juveniles arrive later in October and November.
It mainly eats fish fry, tadpoles and insects inland, while
at the coast its diet is dominated by small crabs, shrimps, mud and sand prawns,
polychaete worms and fish fry. An active and agile forager, it mainly catches
prey by plucking them from the ground or shallow water, or it sweeps its bill
from side to side on the water surface while rapidly opening and shutting its
bill. The following food items have been recorded
in its diet:
Invertebrates
shrimps
small crabs
polychaetes
Upogebia africana (Estuarine mudprawns)
Vertebrates
fish
Liza (mullet)
Clinus (clinids)
Oreochromis (tilapia)
Threats
Not threatened.
References
Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG 2005. Roberts
- Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker
Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.