Whimbrel

Numenius phaeopus

Two circled the east basin (now Woodberry Wetlands) on the morning of the 21st of September 2007 before flying east towards the Lea Valley and Walthamstow Wetlands.

The Whimbrel's distinctive call is often associated with a Celtic superstition of the 'seven-whistlers', supposedly a group of six birds looking for a seventh - hearing the call augured death or other disaster.

Number in Britain: 500 Pairs (Summer)

Status:

in London: regular passage migrant.

in UK: Migrant breeder, Passage visitor

Habitat: Tundra, moor, heath, on migration marsh & estuary

Diet: Invertebrates and plant material according to availability; rarely probes deeply

Data from the London Natural History Society (LNHS) and British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)

  • Systematic list of the Birds of Stoke Newington Reservoirs and Woodberry Wetlands.

Whimbrel Woodberry Wetlands TeRNS Stoke Newington wildlife Hackney London N16
TeRNS Stoke Newington reservoirs wildlife group Hackney London N16 Twitter
TeRNS on twitter. The Reservoirs Nature Society, Stoke Newington, London.Birds of Stoke Newington Reservoirs and Woodberry Wetlands © TeRNS 2003