Spotted Redshank

The spotted redshank is a large wader, 29–31 centimetres long with a wingspan of 61–67 centimetres and a weight of 121–205 grams. It is black in breeding plumage, with white spots, and very pale in winter. The legs and bill are red, and a white oval shows on the back in flight. Juveniles are grey-brown finely speckled white above, with pale, finely barred underparts. Adults moult completely between July and October, and the body plumage is moulted again in spring between March and May. (Wikipedia, general species account)

The species breeds in the Arctic across much of the Palearctic, from Lapland in the west to Chukotskaya in the east, nesting on open boggy taiga and laying four eggs in a ground scrape. It migrates south to winter around the Mediterranean, in the southern British Isles and France, and in tropical Africa and tropical Asia, and is an occasional vagrant to Australia and North America. Like most waders it feeds on small invertebrates. (Wikipedia, general species account)