Stats

Lifespan

5-30 yrs

Size

Medium

Diet

Carnivore

Activity

Diurnal

Social

Flock

Biome

Coastal wetland

Range

Worldwide

Movement

Flight

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Camouflage

Status

Common

About

These birds inhabit shorelines and wetlands across every continent on Earth. Some species travel over 10,000 miles during their annual migration without stopping to land.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A clutch of eggs is incubated in the nest, kept warm by a brooding parent until the chicks pip free.
2. 2.
   hatchling

   A naked or downy hatchling is fed in the nest by its parents.
3. 3.
   juvenile

   A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest and learns to fly and forage.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown with adult plumage.

Learn more

• View on iNaturalist →

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Charadriiformes