Tringa nebularia
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
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...
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naha | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 2 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | Manama | 🇧🇭 Bahrain | |
| 4 | Tuen Mun | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 5 | Quanzhou | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 6 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 7 | Agra | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 9 | Makassar | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 10 | Maputo | 🇲🇿 Mozambique |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Common Greenshank sighting in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary on a given day, based on 69 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 59th most-seen of the 173 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and February
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Common Greenshank in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary on a given day, against about 40% in March–April and November–December, the lowest months. Those are among Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary's driest months, with almost no rain against 55 mm in August. May to October 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.
2nd of 86
Of the 86 parks where we can rate Common Greenshank sightings, Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary ranks 2nd at about 40%. The best odds are in West Coast National Park (South Africa, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Tringa
The closest relatives of the Common Greenshank that you can see in Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary (genus Tringa, Shanks, Tattlers, and Allies) are Common Redshank (about 60%), Wood Sandpiper (about 40%) and Marsh Sandpiper (about 40%), 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 Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary (69 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
