# Common greenshank (*Tringa nebularia*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-greenshank  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The common greenshank (Tringa nebularia), also called the greenshank, is a bird in the family Scolopacidae and the order Charadriiformes. It is a small, migratory wetland bird with an adult body mass of 187 g and a wingspan of 61 cm. It is an aquatic predator and carnivore with a terrestrial lifestyle, and checklists record it in Australia. It lays a clutch of 4 eggs once a year, incubates them for 24.3 days, and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 172 g – 187 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 61 cm |
| Lifespan | 24.4 years |
| Diet | Aquatic predator |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 24.4 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | wetland |
| Egg incubation | 24.3 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 4 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months – 17.9 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | 1 country |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Charadriiformes
- family: Scolopacidae
- genus: Tringa
- species: *Tringa nebularia* (Gunnerus, 1767)

Synonyms: *Glottis linnei*, *Glottis nebularia*, *Glottis nebularius affinis*, *Glottis nebularius georgi*, *Scolopax glottis*, *Scolopax nebularia*, *Totanus canescens*, *Totanus glottis*, *Totanus glottoides*, *Totanus nebularia*, *Tringa canescens*, *Tringa glottis*, *Tringa littorea*, *Tringa nebularia nebularia*

## Countries on record

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

Australia

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the common greenshank?

The common greenshank is a bird in the family Scolopacidae, order Charadriiformes. It is a small, migratory wetland bird.

### How heavy is the common greenshank?

The common greenshank has an adult body mass of 187 g, and its wingspan is 61 cm.

### What does the common greenshank eat?

The common greenshank is an aquatic predator, placing it at the carnivore trophic level.

### Which countries is the common greenshank recorded in?

Checklists record the common greenshank in Australia. Its geographic range covers 12,130,000 km².

### Is the common greenshank endangered?

No. The common greenshank is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does the common greenshank live?

The common greenshank has a lifespan of 24.4 years, with values up to 24.42 years reported.

### How many eggs does the common greenshank lay?

The common greenshank lays 4 eggs per clutch, with 1 clutch per year, and the eggs are incubated for 24.3 days.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Common greenshank (Tringa nebularia). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-greenshank