Waders Estuary
Habitat
Mudflats and sandy shores are both resturant and refuge for all kinds of wading bird. Living Coasts has recreated a coastal estuary complete with running streams, islands, mudflats, little beach areas, and estuary plants. Under the surface, it's teeming with insects, worms, and shellfish for our waders to feed on. At Living Coasts, almost 150 wading birds spend their time searching for food, building nests, raising their chicks, and exploring their habitat.
Featured Animals
Pied avocet
Avocets have stark black and white markings and a thin upcurved black bill. The have long blue-grey legs to wade through shallow water.
Black-necked stilt
A very distinctive bird with extremely long red-pink legs and a thin black bill which they use to pick tiny aquatic invertebrates from the surface of the water.
Common redshank
The common redshank is small, long-legged and long-billed. In winter, they are the most common wader along the coastlines of Britain.
Stilts are great actors! They often feign an injury such as a broken wing to lure predators away from their nest before flying away.
