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Marsh Sandpipers are small waders. Their plumage is cryptic. When seen in Australia, they are usually (but not always) in eclipse plumage. During the non-breeding season they basically have a white front and a grey back. Except for the sides of the chest, which are streaked grey, the entire front, from throat to undertail coverts, including the flanks, is white. The head, except for white frons, eyebrows and chin, is white with grey striation. The nape of the neck and the wings are grey, with fine white edge lining. In-flight they do not show a wing bar, but a prominent white back. During the breeding season, except for white eye-rings, the head, neck, throat, chest and flanks become streaked grey-brown. The wings develop brownish colours. The light-brown base contrasts with dark-brown patches and white edges, most prominently on the scapulars. The eyes have dark irises. The dark-grey bill is straight, very slim and longer than the size of the head. The legs and feet are olive-grey. The legs are long and in-flight the feet protrude clearly beyond the tail. Juveniles roughly resemble non-breeding adults, but they have very crisp, fine white edge-lining on their wing feathers and browner coverts and tertials.

Twitcher's tip

Compared to other species of small sandpipers and stints, Marsh Sandpipers have the most slender straight black bill.

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.

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 .

The global distribution of the Marsh Sandpiper is available HERE .

Marsh Sandpipers are a migratory species. Their breeding grounds are in open grassy steppe and taiga wetlands from far-eastern Europe to central Asia. Most Marsh Sandpipers spend the northern winters in Africa, Arabia or India, while a smaller number migrate to South-east Asia or Australia.

In Australia Marsh Sandpipers are non-breeding migrants from the North. They are relatively uncommon in Australia and found mostly in wetlands along the major inland river, courses, but also occasionally along the coast of the continent and offshore islands and Tasmania. They are only very rarely found elsewhere inland and never in the major deserts of eastern WA, the south-western NT and north-western SA.

Although found mostly in saltwater habitats, Marsh Sandpipers are also occasionally found around fresh water.

Marsh Sandpipers are sometimes found in various wetlands around Moree, NSW. They were first spotted there by C. Hayne in January and December 2009, on a farm dam 15 km North-West of Moree, NSW. Marsh Sandpipers were also seen throughout 2010 and 2011. During the second half of 2012 and early 2013, especially in the timeframe September-January, large numbers of Marsh Sandpipers were seen in various locations around Moree.

We first spotted Marsh Sandpipers in a shallow pool with partially submerged sandbanks at the Burren Junction Bore Bath, (which was closed at the time) in November/December 2013, when at least two birds were found there. Since then, they are found at the same location reliably, albeit in small numbers.

B. Hensen reports spotting a Marsh Sandpiper at the Leanyer Sewage Treatment Plant, Darwin, NT, in March 2013, and at McMinns Lagoon, near Darwin, and at Knuckey Lagoon, Darwin, NT, in November 2018.

In August 2014 we found two Marsh Sandpipers in mudflats at East Point, Darwin, NT.

H. Mouritsen reports spotting 3 Marsh Sandpipers near Darwin, NT, in October 2015.

J. Greaves reports spotting a Marsh Sandpiper at Alfred Cove, Swan River, Perth, WA, in November 2015 and at Austin Bay, near Mandurah, WA, in March 2017.

M. Eaton found a Marsh Sandpiper at Lake Clarendon, QLD, in November 2018, and another at Atkinson Dam, near Lowood, QLD, in October 2019.