Common Greenshank

1. Long olive-green legs and slightly upturned bill

2. Grey upperparts with white underparts

3. Distinctive white wedge on the back in flight

These birds forage by walking steadily through shallow water, picking, probing, and sometimes chasing prey such as insects, crustaceans, molluscs, small fish, and occasionally amphibians or even rodents. They are active both day and night. Common Greenshanks do not breed in Australia; instead, they migrate to taiga and northern steppe zones between 5°N and 7°N, from Scandinavia to Kamchatka, to nest during the northern summer. Their call is a clear, fluty “teu-teu-teu”.

Common Greenshanks are widespread across Australia, especially in coastal regions but also inland. They use a wide variety of wetlands, including estuaries, mudflats, mangroves, swamps, lakes, and artificial habitats like sewage farms and flooded crops. Look for them walking along the edges of waterbodies, often alone or in small groups, rather than in large flocks.