The Green Sandpiper is a small wader, dark above and bright white above, the contrast between these tones and the white rump makes it also very distinctive in flight. It wades up to chest height or along muddy shores, picking the small invertebrates it feeds on, and slowly covers ground There is a short white eye stripe and eye ring and tiny glitter-like spots on its wings. A wader of freshwater habitat including ditches, slow flowing rivers, flooded fields and reservoirs.
Status and distribution in Hull
It is mainly a scarce passage migrant in the Hull area, most notable in the long autumn passage, peaking in August. It breeds in Scandinavia and the Sub Arctic, unusually for a wader, nesting in trees. Records are from Bransholme Reservoir, Noddle Hill LNR, Priory Fields, Willerby Carr and Springhead Golf Course.
The Green Sandpiper is Amber listed due to the small populations breeding in Scotland. Being a scarce migrant, there is little local management that can benefit the bird conservation status, although the presence of flooded fields, and muddy ditches might attract individuals to settle for a few weeks during migration. The species has benefited from milder UK winters, with more individuals wintering in lowlands, so suitable local habitat like shallow muddy edged temporary ponds might encourage individuals to settle for the winter.
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