Mid-sized wader bird (approx 24 cm or 9.5 in). Very contrasted plumage. Dark brown upperparts and white underparts. White eyebrow on the head. Tail with dark transverse stripes. More sturdy than other sandpipers. Dark wings in flight and white rump (end of the back-beginning of the tail); the barring of the tail and the dark wings as highlights. Greenish legs.
Wetlands, River and Riverside
Species linked to fresh and inland water bodies. It prefers reservoirs and lakes with muddy shores and tree-lined riverbanks. In winter it is also present in inlets and banks of brackish water.
Wintering species in the province and that can also be observed in migratory passage. It breeds in the north of Europe using humid wooded lands and placing the nest in trees (something rare among waders). Insectivore that captures invertebrates by poking at the silt with its bill or lifting stones in the water. Fast and agile in flight. On the ground it teeters the body like all sandpipers.
Easy to watch at the mouth of the Guadalhorce and Vélez rivers. Present also in some coastal wetlands of the Costa del Sol.
Sandpipers are waders, a group of birds with legs and bills more or less long according to each species but always used to live on shores and find their food in the mud or silt of coasts and banks by wading, hence their name.
- El Chorro (Paraje Natural del Desfiladero de Los Gaitanes)
- Genal and Guadiaro rivers junction
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 18. Fuente de Piedra - Campillos
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 19. Campillos - Embalses del Guadalhorce
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 35. Alhaurín de la Torre - Málaga
- The Mouth of Rio Velez
- Valley of the Guadalhorce River
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