Breeds in the circumpolar region above 55° North, heading
south in the non-breeding season to the coastline of continents and most
islands south of 35° North (especially common in the tropics), including
southern Africa. Here it is common along the entire coastline of the region,
while it is a vagrant further inland, generally preferring coastal lagoons and
estuaries, especially with sand and rocky intertidal habitats, mangroves or
salt-marshes.
Most southern African birds probably originate
from eastern Russia and Siberia, arriving in the region from
August-October and staying until about late March and April. It
eventually gets back to its breeding breed grounds in the period
from May-June.
Food
It mainly eats crustaceans, molluscs and annelids, doing
most of its foraging at night, probing and pecking the ground in search of prey. The following food items have been recorded
in its diet:
invertebrates
crabs
Thalamita
Macropthalmus
Uca
Dotilla
Hymosoma
Cleistostoma
Sesarma
polychaete worms
Upogebia africana (Estuarine mudprawns)
molluscs
annelids
small fish
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.
