|
|
|
Common Sandpiper
(Actitis hypoleucos)
: "Summer Snipe"
Size: 19-21 cm; wing span 35-41 cm
Weight: 33-70 g
|
|
 |
Similar species |
|
|
 |
Physical description |
|
 Click here for a physical description
Common Sandpipers are small waders.
Their plumage
is cryptic.
When seen in Australia, they are in eclipse
plumage.
During the non-breeding
season they have a whitish throat,
light grey-brown upper chest with darker grey-brown sides,
while the rest of the front, including shoulder bars, is
white. The sides of the head are grey-brown, with a darker
eye stripe and crown and a lighter eyebrow and cheeks and
ear coverts. The nape of the neck is also grey-brown. The
back, including the wings, is darker grey-brown, with a
faint light-brown bar pattern that is also visible on the
sides of the tail.
In-flight they show a broad white wing bar and white terminal
spots on the outer tail feathers.
During the breeding season, the sides of the head and the
neck show more streaking, while the bar pattern on the back
and wings becomes bolder and more prominent, with more brown
hues visible than grey.
The eyes have dark irises. The grey bill is straight and a bit
longer than the size of the head. The legs and feet are olive-grey.
In flight the feet do not protrude beyond the tip of the tail.
Juveniles roughly resemble non-breeding adults, but they have a
crisper, tidier plumage.
 |
Twitcher's tip |
|
Compared with Green
Sandpipers, Common Sandpipers are smaller, have visible white
shoulder bars and in-flight show white wing bars. A photo taken in
Oman showing the two species together in non-breeding plumage is available HERE.
The correct identification of waders ("shorebirds"), e.g. of the
Calidris, Tringa, Actitis and
related families or of the Charadrius, Pluvialis and related genera
in the field can be quite tricky. We have therefore made an attempt to
give some advice HERE.
|
 |
Taxonomy, classification |
|
See Common
Sandpiper at Wikipedia  .
|
|
 |
Range, habitat, finding this species |
|
Click here for information on habitat
and range
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed based
on sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
.
The global distribution of the Common Sandpiper is available
HERE
.
Common Sandpipers are a migratory species that can be seen in
flocks during migration.
They breed across most of temperate and subtropical Europe and
Asia and spend the northern winters in Africa, southern Asia
and Australia.
In Australia
Common Sandpipers migrate from the North around the entire coastal
fringe of the continent. They settle mostly in the western part of the
tropical North of the NT, along the Australian West coast and in
southern SA, VIC and the South coast of NSW; they are also found
along the coastline of Tasmania. After substantial rainfall
they will venture further into the semi-arid interior - basically
anywhere except the driest part of the continent, i.e. the major
sandy deserts of eastern WA, the south-western NT, the western
half of SA, and the Nullarbor.
Common Sandpipers are usually found along
beaches, but also
along river banks.
|
 |
Sightings |
|
Click here for sighting information
We first spotted a pair of Common Sandpipers at Lee Point, Darwin,
NT, in August 2014.
J. Greaves reports spotting a Common Sandpiper at Yellow Water
billabong,
Kakadu NP,
NT, in November 2014.
J. Greaves also reports finding a Common Sandpiper at Salter Point,
Canning River, Perth, in January 2017.
H. Mouritsen reports spotting about Common Sandpipers in different
locations near Darwin, NT, in October 2015.
We have previously also seen Common Sandpipers in Oman.
|
 |
Photos |
|
More (and better) photos were taken by us in Oman.
 |
ADULT |
|
 |
NON-BREEDING |
|
Lateral view of a Common Sandpiper in non-breeding
plumage
on a rockface
[Lee Point, Darwin, NT, August 2014]
Lateral view of a Common Sandpiper in non-breeding
plumage on the edge
of a billabong
(photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Kakadu NP,
NT, November 2014]
Dorsal view of a Common Sandpiper in non-breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Salter Point, Canning River, Perth, January 2017]
 |
Behaviour |
|
Common Sandpipers are well-known for bobbing their tails. This
proved to be a major loss of potentially good photos during the
course of our observations...
 |
Food, Diet |
|
We have seen Common Sandpipers take flies from the fringes of
water courses, where they had sat down to drink water (see
here).
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors.
The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.
Breeding
Nest
Eggs
Call/s
