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Green Sandpiper
(Tringa ochropus)
Size: 21-24 cm; wing span 57-61 cm
Weight: 53-112 g
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Similar
species |
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Physical description |
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 Click here for a physical description
Green Sandpipers are small waders.
Their plumage
is cryptic.
When seen in Australia, they are in non-breeding
plumage.
During the non-breeding season they a grey head, except for
some light striation on the throat and white eye-rings. The
upper chest is greyish-brown. The rest of the front, from
the lower chest to the undertail coverts, is white. The
crown, nape of the neck and back are greyish-brown, with
sparse white speckles on mantle and wings.
In-flight they do not show a wing bar, but a white rump and
uppertail with three black bars.
During the breeding season, head and neck show more white
streaking and the spot pattern on the back becomes bolder.
The eyes have dark irises. The olive-grey bill has a dark-grey
tip, is straight and a bit longer than the size of the head.
The legs and feet are olive-grey.
In flight the toes of the feet protrude beyond the tip of the tail.
Juveniles
roughly resemble non-breeding adults, but they have a
darker general appearance, less prominent eye-rings and a tidier
spot pattern.
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Twitcher's tip |
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Compared with Common
Sandpipers, Green Sandpipers are larger and do not have white
shoulder bars or 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.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Green
Sandpiper at Wikipedia  .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and
specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found,
based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
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The global distribution of the Green Sandpiper is available
HERE
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Green Sandpipers are a strongly migratory species.
They breed throughout subarctic Europe and Asia and spend the
northern winters in southern Europe, parts of Arabia, the
Indian subcontinent, South-east Asia, and tropical Africa.
In Australia Green Sandpipers are sometimes reported as rare
vagrants to the Darwin, NT, area.
Green Sandpipers have a strong preference for fresh water
habitats, often in wooded areas, such as bogs and marshes.
On migration they are also often found in roadside ditches
and the edges of ponds, again often with concealing vegetation.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
H. Mouritsen reports spotting one and two Green Sandpipers, respectively,
in different locations near Darwin, NT, in October 2015.
We have not yet spotted Green Sandpipers in Australia, but have seen
them in Oman. To go to the Omani page, click
here.
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Photos |
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No photos from Australia available yet. To go to the Omani page, click
here.
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Call(s)/Song |
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For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The
interpretation of their meaning is our own; are welcome.
More Green Sandpiper sound recordings are available at
xeno-canto.org
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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
Behaviour
Food
are welcome.