Terek Sandpiper

Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus) is a small grey shorebird with short orange legs and a conspicuously upturned bill. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It scurries across mudflats and sandy shores, chasing crustaceans and insects and probing shallow burrows and surface films. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. The Korean vertebrate catalogue used for this guide records the species in South Korea (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Korea occurrence records).