Tringa nebularia
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The common greenshank (Tringa nebularia) is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae, the typical waders. The genus name Tringa is the Neo-Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek trungas, a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific nebularia is from Latin nebula "mist". Like the Norwegian Skoddefoll, this refers to the greenshank's damp marshy habitat.
Its closest relative is the greater yellowlegs, which together with the spotted redshank form a close-knit group. Among them, these three species show all the basic leg and foot colours found in the shanks, demonstrating that this character is paraphyletic. They are also the largest shanks apart from the willet, which is altogether more robustly built. The greater yellowlegs and the common greenshank share a coarse, dark, and fairly crisp breast pattern as well as much black on the shoulders and back in breeding plumage.
This is a subarctic bird, breeding from northern Scotland eastwards across northern Europe and east across the Palearctic. It is a migratory species, wintering in Africa, the Indian subcontinent... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naha | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 2 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | Tuen Mun | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 4 | Manama | 🇧🇭 Bahrain | |
| 5 | Quanzhou | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 6 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 7 | Agra | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 9 | Makassar | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 10 | Maputo | 🇲🇿 Mozambique |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Greenshank sighting in Freetown on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 54th most-seen of the 79 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December and January
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Greenshank in Freetown on a given day, against under 5% in February, May–June and September, the lowest months. Those are among Freetown's driest months, with almost no rain against 700 mm in August. March–April, July–August and October–November have too few records to rate.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Greenshank sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
39th of 111
Of the 111 cities where we can rate Common Greenshank sightings, Freetown ranks 39th at about 10%. The best odds are in Naha (Japan, about 60%), Zanzibar City (Tanzania, about 60%) and Tuen Mun (China, about 40%).
Same family: Scolopacidae
The closest relatives of the Common Greenshank that you can see in Freetown (family Scolopacidae, Sandpipers and Allies) are Common Sandpiper (about 10%) and Whimbrel (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Greenshank is recorded against all the birds logged in Freetown (6 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
