Tringa Totanus

Tringa totanus (Common Redshank) is a critically endangered species in the Republic of Croatia, and breeds in Europe and Asia.

It is a bird that is mostly a migrant, and in Western Europe partly a resident. It winters from Western Europe to West Africa, including the Mediterranean, while in Croatia it breeds only in the flooded part of the Pag plain along the source part of the Cetina.

After 2004, there was a decline in numbers, while by 2004, 6-10 pairs were nesting. The decline in numbers was caused by the overgrowth of nesting grounds and led to only two nesting pairs in 2008, the same year the habitat was revitalized, while in 2009 the number of pairs increased to 2.

There are few winterers on the coast, wintering only in the northwestern part of northern Dalmatia: in the coastal area from Privlaka across the Nin Bay and Ljubač Bay to Plemići Bay and the southern part of the island of Pag with Pag salt pans. It is also a regular migratory bird in the entire coast, from Istria to the extreme south. About 500 to 1,000 birds use the wetlands and salt pans on Pag for spring migrations, and 219 of them were recorded in one visit.

They inhabit shallow terrestrial and coastal wetlands, lagoons, wet grasslands and heaths, along lakes, rivers and other shallow waters. Outside the nesting season, they remain mainly in the coastal area, on muddy, sandy or gravelly banks, estuaries, sheltered bays, salt pans, etc., less often inland, on the banks of rivers and lakes, flooded grasslands and sediments. They are not particularly sociable, outside the nesting season for feeding they are often solitary, and rest usually in small flocks. They nest as solitary pairs or in loose colonies.

They are monogamous, relationships are often lifelong. The female builds a nest which she places on the ground, in low plants. There are usually 4 eggs in the deposit. Incubation lasts 24 days, both parents lay eggs. Birds are first cared for by both parents, and later often only by the male. Birds are able to fly from 25 to 35 days, when they usually become independent. They are active both night and day, most active at dusk.

They feed on shrimp, mollusks, polychaetes, earthworms, insects and their larvae, occasionally small fish and tadpoles. Diet and hunting methods depend on habitat and season. They look for prey with their eyesight and hunt it by pecking on the surface, but also by sticking their beaks into the mud. The prey is often washed before swallowing in nearby puddles. When catching small fish, they are often in dense flocks. They usually wade on the water, but sometimes they also swim.

Many are the causes of their endangerment, and some of them are the disappearance of wetlands, especially floodplain grasslands and due to river regulation and land reclamation. They are also affected by the cessation of saltworks with the traditional method of salt production and the disappearance of shallow muddy and sandy sea shores.