Tringa nebularia
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~60%
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 Moremi Game Reserve on a given day, based on 167 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 113th most-seen of the 334 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Common Greenshank in Moremi Game Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in April and June–July, the lowest months. That is one of Moremi Game Reserve's wettest months, with about 85 mm of rain against almost none in May.
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.
31st of 81
Of the 81 parks where we can rate Common Greenshank sightings, Moremi Game Reserve ranks 31st at about 10%. The best odds are in West Coast National Park (South Africa, about 60%), Gonarezhou National Park (Zimbabwe, about 40%) and Kaziranga National Park (India, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Tringa
The closest relatives of the Common Greenshank that you can see in Moremi Game Reserve (genus Tringa, Shanks, Tattlers, and Allies) are Wood Sandpiper (about 20%) and Marsh Sandpiper (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 Moremi Game Reserve (167 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.
