Grey-tailed Tattler, April 2025

In April I photographed a visiting seabird at Kingston. This is a migrating bird named the Grey-tailed Tattler, which was on the rocky foreshore, along the beach front from the Kingston Pier.

I was unsure of the name of the bird, so sent some photos to local bird expert, Margaret Christian, and she said it was a Tattler, and most likely a Grey-tailed Tattler.

The bird was grey like the rocks and blended into their surroundings and was difficult to see the bird when it was sitting. I guess the Tattler was resting after its long flight to Norfolk Island, and the journey will take it all the way to Siberia.

My photos revealed that it had yellow coloured legs with clawed feet, zoomed in they looked like prehistoric feet. The beak was long and when it did walk around it was searching amongst the rocks for food. The feathers were grey, but distinctive markings near the eyebrow and tail had stripes and a speckled (barred) grey and white underbelly.

I have checked out additional information about the Grey-tailed tattler, Heteroscelus brevipes, is an occasional visitor or vagrant and its habitat is the wetlands and coastal areas. The following link has a great list of Norfolk Island birds, which was also useful when I completed my 2025 eBird observations last weekend for the annual World eBird Day. An update on eBird day sightings, it was extremely windy and not many birds in flight, lots of swallows, starlings and mallard ducks in the wetlands and dams. I saw one white tern, masked boobies on Nepean Island and one in flight, a white head heron, and the geese at Mission Pool.

https://norfolkislandnationalp...

bird-checklist.pdf

Occasional visitors / vagrants

Grey-tailed tattler Heteroscelus brevipes,

Habitat, Wetlands, coastal

https://www.birdsinbackyards.n...

Grey-tailed Tattler | BIRDS in BACKYARDS

The scientific name is Tringa brevipes and they are shore birds and waders. Their size is 25cm – 27cm and average weight 125g. Grey-tailed Tattlers breed in Siberia, and the breeding season is June to July and they lay a clutch of about 4 eggs.

Calls: An upslurred whistle 'tu-whip'.

Description: The Grey-tailed Tattler is a medium-sized wader, with long wings and tail. The bill is rather long and straight. In non-breeding plumage it is grey above and almost white below. There is a white eyebrow. The eyes are dark brown, bill black, short legs and feet bright yellow. In breeding plumage, the entire underparts are conspicuously barred dark brown. Immature birds are similar to adults in non-breeding plumage. This species is also known as the Grey or Grey-rumped Sandpiper or the Ashen Tringine Sandpiper

Similar species: The Grey-tailed Tattler is slightly smaller and slimmer than the very similar Wandering Tattler, H. incanus, which has longer wings, which project well beyond the tail tip at rest, and is mainly seen on rocky shores.

Where does it live?

Distribution: Grey-tailed Tattlers breed in Siberia and on passage are seen along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (the migration route to Australia). When non-breeding they are found in China, Philipines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, New Guinea, Micronesia, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. They are more commonly seen in the north of Australia.

Habitat: Grey-tailed Tattlers are usually seen in small flocks on sheltered coasts with reefs and rock platforms or with intertidal mudflats. They are also found in intertidal rocky, coral or stony reefs, platforms and islets that are exposed at high tide, also shores of rock, shingle, gravel and shells and on intertidal mudflats in embayments, estuaries and coastal lagoons, especially those fringed with mangroves.

Seasonal movements: Grey-tailed Tattlers are migratory, moving south for the northern winter, mainly along the east coast of Asia but also across the south-western Pacific Ocean. In Australia adults arrive in the north coast from late August to early September with first year birds arriving about four weeks later.

Feeding: Grey-tailed Tattlers feed by day on polychaete worms, molluscs, crustaceans, insects and, occasionally, fish. They like small crabs. They dart about, bobbing and teetering between runs and locate prey by sight or by probing.

Breeding: Grey-tailed Tattlers breed in the remote mountains of eastern Siberia, in June and July. The nest is a shallow depression among stones and both parents share the care of the young.

Living with us: There is little impact on breeding habitats as these birds nest in the remotest and wildest mountain country of Siberia. Threats on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (the migration route to Australia) include economic and social pressures such as wetland destruction and change, pollution and hunting.

Did you know? The nest of the Grey-tailed Tattler were not discovered by humans until 1959. It was simply a hollow among stones, lined with dried grass. The sitting female was very tame and allowed the observer, a Russian geologist, to approach within arm's length.

References: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds, Volume 3 (Snipe to Pigeons).

Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds.

Here are a few photos of the Grey-tailed Tattler I took at Kingston in April. It is always fun learning about visiting birds and the amazing Norfolk Island Flora and Fauna

Betty Matthews

16 May 2025