Wader Profiles
Noisy and brave, lapwings are easily identified from other wading birds on account of their metallic green, black and white plumage, their acrobatic courtship display flights, and their distinctive call, which has given them a number of names in Scotland, including peewit, peewee, peesie and teuchat.
Lapwings often breed in short vegetation and they can be found everywhere from lowland farms to remote highland glens.
Lapwing numbers have dropped by an estimated 55% since 1994.
Curlews are the biggest British waders, and their lonely calls mean that they have featured prominently in folklore and myth.
The birds are brown and speckled, with a prominent white rump which is obvious in flight.
Curlews breed in a range of habitats from moorland to hay meadows, and they can be very wary of human beings.
In winter, curlews are often found on estuaries and coastal habitats across Scotland.
The number of curlews breeding in Scotland has declined by 61% over the past 22 years.
Oystercatchers are loud and obvious birds with orange beaks and a distinctive, bickering call.
They are often found along the seaside, and their traditional habitat is based around beaches and coastlines.
In recent years, oystercatchers have begun to breed in a surprising range of different habitats, from roadsides and roundabouts to playing fields and flat roofs, meaning that they are an increasingly familiar sight to people in towns and cities. Over the past 22 years, the population has declined by 38%.
Golden plovers are shy, elusive birds which breed in moorland habitats across Scotland.
Beautifully marked with yellow and golden feathers, the birds develop black bellies during the breeding season.
Their call is a soft, plaintive whistle and they will often run away from human intruders, pausing to stand and look back for signs of danger.
Large flocks of golden plover from continental Europe over-winter in Scotland, favouring coastal areas in the east and south, as well as several island groups.
The redshank is a small and dainty wader with bright red legs and a loud, repetitive call.
Redshanks breed in rushy grassland around the fringes of remote streams, marshes and wetlands.
The adult birds are bold and noisy when defending their nests, and the chicks are small, stripy and extremely well camouflaged.
Redshanks spend the winter in estuaries along the coast, where they jab the mud and sand for worms and small crustaceans.
Not enough Redshanks are encountered in the Breeding Bird Survey to calculate a population trend for Scotland, but at a UK level their breeding population has declined by 44% over the past 22 years.