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The shanks are a group of wading bird species, characterised by a medium length bill and long, often brightly coloured legs. They chase visible prey, rather than probing like most waders.
These species are more associated with temperate regions for breeding than the rest of this largely arctic family. They are more often found in fresh water environments than many waders.
Unusually for waders, some of this group, notably Green Sandpiper, nest in trees, using the old nests of other birds, usually thrushes.
A few other species in other small genera are closely related to the shanks, including the two tattlers and the four other very distinctive species.
Species are:
- Family: Scolopacidae (part)
- Tringa
- Spotted Redshank, Tringa erythropus
- Common Redshank, Tringa totanus
- Marsh Sandpiper, Tringa stagnatilis
- Common Greenshank, Tringa nebularia
- Spotted Greenshank, Tringa guttifer
- Greater Yellowlegs, Tringa melanoleuca
- Lesser Yellowlegs, Tringa flavipes
- Green Sandpiper, Tringa ochropus
- Solitary Sandpiper, Tringa solitaria
- Wood Sandpiper, Tringa glareola
- Xenus
- Actitis
- Heteroscelus
- Catoptrophorus
- Willet, Catoptrophorus semipalmatus
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