Ruff
Calidris pugnax (Linnaeus, 1758)
The ruff (Calidris pugnax), also called the Reeve, is a bird in the family Scolopacidae of the order Charadriiformes. It is a small, migratory carnivore of wetland habitat, classed as an aquatic predator with a terrestrial lifestyle.
Quick facts about the ruff
Adults weigh from 102 g to 180 g, with a representative value of 131.7 g, and the lifespan reported by sources is 13.9 years. It lays 4 eggs per clutch and one clutch per year, with an incubation period of 21.5 days, and reaches sexual maturity at 1.9 years.
- Weight
- 102 g – 180 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 13.9 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 21.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 20.9 months – 2 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the ruff
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the ruff live?
Not recorded
What is the ruff?
The ruff (Calidris pugnax) is a medium-sized wading bird that breeds in marshes and wet meadows across northern Eurasia. This highly gregarious sandpiper is migratory and sometimes forms huge flocks in its winter grounds, which include southern and western Europe, Africa, southern Asia and Australia.
The ruff is a long-necked, pot-bellied bird. This species shows marked sexual dimorphism; the male is much larger than the female (the reeve), and has a breeding plumage that includes brightly coloured head tufts, bare orange facial skin, extensive black on the breast, and the large collar of ornamental feathers that inspired this bird's English name. The female and the non-breeding male have grey-brown upperparts and mainly white underparts. Three differently plumaged types of male, including a rare form that mimics the female, use a variety of strategies to obtain mating opportunities at a lek, and the colourful head and neck feathers are erected as part of the elaborate main courting display. The female has one brood per year and lays four eggs in a well-hidden ground nest, incubating the eggs and rearing the chicks, which are mobile soon after hatching, on her own. Predators of wader chicks and eggs include mammals such as foxes, feral cats and stoats, and birds such as large gulls, crows and skuas.
The ruff forages in wet grassland and soft mud, probing or searching by sight for edible items. It primarily feeds on insects, especially in the breeding season, but it will consume plant material, including rice and maize, on migration and in winter. Classified as "least concern" on the IUCN Red List criteria, the global conservation concerns are relatively low because of the large numbers that breed in Scandinavia and the Arctic. However, the range in much of Europe is contracting because of land drainage, increased fertiliser use, the loss of mown or grazed breeding sites, and over-hunting. This decline has seen it listed in the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA).
From the Wikipedia article “Ruff (bird)” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ruff_%28bird%29&oldid=1380533251), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the ruff endangered?
The ruff is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the ruff classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyScolopacidae
- genusCalidris
- SpeciesCalidris pugnax (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Calidris pugnax pugnax, Machetes pugnax, Machetes variabilis, Pavoncella pugnax, Pavoncella pugnax leucoprora, Philomachus pugnax, Tringa pugnax
Other names and names in other languages (97)
- ReeveEnglish
- KemphaanAfrikaans
- حجوالةArabic
- النفاش المشاكسArabic
- النَّفَّاش المُشاكسArabic
- دريجة شرسةArabic
- EngardienteAsturian
- Döyüşkən cüllütAzerbaijani
- ҠорохтанBashkir
- БаталёнBelarusian
- БойникBulgarian
- গেওয়ালা বাটানBangla
- Frezenneg riotusBreton
- batallaireCatalan
- ТрактанMari
- ТӑрӑхтанChuvash
- jespák bojovnýCzech
- Pibydd TorchogWelsh
- Pibyddion TorchogWelsh
- BrushaneDanish
- KampfläuferGerman
- KampfschnepfeGerman
- ΜαχητήςGreek
- duelbirdoEsperanto
- CombatienteSpanish
- Playero CombatienteSpanish
- tutkasEstonian
- BorrokalariBasque
- تلیله شکیلPersian
- suokukkoFinnish
- HøvuðkamburFaroese
- kápugrælingurFaroese
- Combattant variéFrench
- Bécasseau combattantFrench
- Chevalier combattantFrench
- BrüüshöönNorthern Frisian
- HoantsWestern Frisian
- RufachánIrish
- gibeaganScottish Gaelic
- gibeagainScottish Gaelic
- Ushag y rooManx
- לוחםHebrew
- pršljivacCroatian
- pajzsoscankóHungarian
- ԿռվակտցարArmenian
- Կռվան կտցարArmenian
- Trinil rumbaiIndonesian
- Burung Trinil RumbaiIndonesian
- RúkragiIcelandic
- CombattenteItalian
- エリマキシギJapanese
- მაჩხუბარა კოკორინაGeorgian
- Тарбахайkjn
- КүжіркейKazakh
- 목도리도요Korean
- WandmécherLuxembourgish
- AmbaraskréimerLuxembourgish
- KampfleeferLuxembourgish
- gaidukasLithuanian
- gugatnisLatvian
- ravaravaMalagasy
- бојникMacedonian
- ബഹുവർണ്ണൻ മണലൂതിMalayalam
- GirwielMaltese
- Нооголдой - ᠨᠣᠴᠣᠭᠠ ᠨᠣᠯᠣᠯᠳᠠᠢMongolian
- भांडखोर पाणलावाMarathi
- Burung Kedidi RopolMalay
- ConbatantPicard
- batalionPolish
- رفWestern Panjabi
- combatentePortuguese
- Rivarel lutgaderRomansh
- BătăuşRomanian
- BătăușRomanian
- ТурухтанRussian
- БараахYakut
- भट जलरंकSanskrit
- RávgošNorthern Sami
- RávggošNorthern Sami
- bojovník bahennýSlovak
- togotnikSlovenian
- Koe-koe-lemaoSouthern Sotho
- LuftëtariAlbanian
- Sprudnik ubojicaSerbian
- Спрудник убојицаSerbian
- Prudnik ubojica - Прудник убојицаSerbian
- Chokowe MjasiriSwahili
- பேதை உள்ளான்Tamil
- นกรัฟThai
- DöğüşkenkuşTurkish
- Dövüşken KuşTurkish
- СодаачыTuvinian
- брижачUkrainian
- GanbetonVenetian
- Chim Rẽ lớnVietnamese
- 流苏鹬Chinese
- 流蘇鷸Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the ruff
Other species in the same genus Calidris.
Sanderling
Calidris alba
Dunlin
Calidris alpina
Red knot
Calidris canutus
Little stint
Calidris minuta
Temminck's stint
Calidris temminckii
Curlew sandpiper
Calidris ferruginea
CompareRuff vs SanderlingRuff vs DunlinRuff vs Red knotRuff vs Little stint
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the ruff?
The ruff is a bird in the family Scolopacidae and the order Charadriiformes. It is also called the Reeve.
How much does a ruff weigh?
Adult Ruffs weigh from 102 g to 180 g, with a representative value of 131.7 g. This places it in the small size class.
What does the ruff eat?
The ruff is a carnivore classed as an aquatic predator.
What habitat does the ruff live in?
The ruff lives in wetland habitat and has a terrestrial lifestyle. It is migratory.
Is the ruff endangered?
No. The ruff is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a ruff live?
Sources report a lifespan of 13.9 years for the ruff.
How many eggs does a ruff lay?
The ruff lays 4 eggs per clutch and one clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 21.5 days.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · 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 · 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 · 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 · 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 · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · 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).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Ruff (Calidris pugnax). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/ruff
“Ruff (Calidris pugnax).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/ruff.
@misc{ruff_2026,
title = {Ruff (Calidris pugnax)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/ruff},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}