Common Sandpiper.
Photo: K Vang and W Dabrowka © Bird Explorers
Distribution map of Actitis hypoleucos
Map © Birds Australia Birdata
Common Sandpiper
Scientific name: Actitis hypoleucos
Family: Scolopacidae
Order: Charadriiformes
- Featured Bird Groups
- Shore birds and waders
What does it look like?
Description
The Common Sandpiper is a small sandpiper with a rather long body and short legs. It is grey-brown above and white below, extending up in a pointed shape between the wing and the dark breast band.There is an indistinct white supercilium (eyebrow) and white eye-ring. The bill is dark grey with yellow at the base and the legs vary from greyish-olive to a yellowish-brown. When at rest, the long tail projects well beyond the tips of the wings. This species is also known as the Eurasian Sandpiper or Summer Snipe.
Similar species
The Common Sandpiper has a shorter neck, wings and legs than the similar-sized Wood Sandpiper, T. glareola. It is also much smaller and slimmer than the Terek Sandpiper, Xenus cinereus.
Where does it live?
Distribution
The Common Sandpiper breeds in Europe and Asia. In Australasia it visits New Guinea and Australia, mainly in the north and west. It is less often seen in New Zealand.Habitat
In Australia, the Common Sandpiper is found in coastal or inland wetlands, both saline or fresh. It is found mainly on muddy edges or rocky shores. During the breeding season in the northern hemisphere, it prefers freshwater lakes and shallow rivers.
Seasonal movements
The Common Sandpiper is migratory, breeding in Eurasia. Most of the western breeding populations winter in Africa and eastern breeding populations winter in Australia and south Asia to Melanesia. Some birds do not return to Eurasia to breed, but remain in the north of Australia throughout the Australian winter.What does it do?
Feeding
The Common Sandpiper hunts by day, eating small molluscs, aquatic and terrestrial insects. It is a very active bird and will follow its prey over rocks and has also been known to swim under water.
Breeding
After returning to Eurasia, the female will build the nest alone but both sexes share incubation and care of the young. Common Sandpipers may have more than one brood per year. The nests can vary from an open shallow nest to a complex nest filled with leaves and grass and is often hidden in thick vegetation.
Living with us
Living with humans
LIke many migratory species, the Common Sandpiper faces many threats on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, such as loss of feeding grounds and hunting.
References
Marchant, S. and Higgins, P.J. (eds) 1993. Handbook of Australian New Zealand And Antartic Birds Vol. 2: (Raptors To Lapwings). Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
Pringle, J.D. 1985. The Waterbirds of Australia. Angus and Robertson/National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife, Sydney.
Higgins, P.J. and S.J.J.F. Davies (eds) 1996. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds, Volume 3 (Snipe to Pigeons). Oxford University Press, Victoria.