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8

Common Sandpiper

(Actitis hypoleucos)
Alternate name(s): "Summer Snipe"
Size: 19-21 cm; wing span 35-41 cm
Weight: 33-70 g

Similar
species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

Taxonomy, classification

See Common Sandpiper at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species

Click here for information on habitat and range

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

BREEDING

Near-frontal view of a Common Sandpiper in fresh breeding plumage on a rockface (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Nightcliff, Darwin, NT, March 2013]

Near-frontal view of a Common Sandpiper in fresh breeding plumage spreading its wings, giving a clear view of the underwing pattern (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Nightcliff, Darwin, NT, March 2013]

NON-BREEDING

Frontal view of a Common Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Quindalup, WA, October 2022]

Near-frontal view from above of a Common Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage seen from above (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[East Point, Darwin, NT, December 2017]

Near-lateral view from above of a Common Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[East Point, Darwin, NT, December 2017]

Close-up lateral view of a Common Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Daintree River, QLD, October 2020]

Lateral view of a Common Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage on a rockface
[Lee Point, Darwin, NT, August 2014]

Lateral view from above of a Common Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[East Point, Darwin, NT, December 2017]

Near-dorsal view from above of a Common Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[East Point, Darwin, NT, December 2017]

Near-dorsal view of a Common Sandpiper in extremely worn non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Buffalo Creek, Darwin, July 2020]

Dorsal view from above of a Common Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[East Point, Darwin, NT, December 2017]

Dorsal view of a Common Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Salter Point, Canning River, Perth, January 2017]

More photos were taken by us in Oman.

Behaviour

Common Sandpipers are not "wading waders", but tend to stay on land, by the water's edge, going after e.g. flies. They are well-known for bobbing their tails, which proved to be a major loss of potentially good photos during the course of our observations...

Common Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage in an intertidal wetland (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Darwin, NT, March 2018]

Common Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage on huge boulders (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Darwin, NT, March 2018]

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).

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

comspip_dw_20200807.m4a (Poland) Contact calls (Q&A) © DW
comspip_dw_20190909.m4a (Poland) Contact calls (Q&A, in-flight) © DW

More Common Sandpiper sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

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.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site?
If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.