8

Terek 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, except for some light-grey on the chest and shoulders, the front, from throat to undertail coverts, is white. The frons and eyebrows are also white, while the ear coverts are very lightly streaked light-grey. The lores are grey, the frons is white. The back, including the crown and the nape of the neck, is grey, with a brownish tinge, especially on the wings. In-flight they show an inconspicuous dark-grey wing bar and a distinct white trailing edge. During the breeding season, the head, neck and chest become white with fine dark-grey streaking. The wing feathers turn more slate-grey, without a brownish tinge. The eyes have dark irises. The dark-grey bill is visibly upcurved, has a brownish-orange base and is long (about twice the size of the head). The legs and feet are orange-brown. In flight the trailing feet reach the tip of the tail. Juveniles roughly resemble non-breeding adults, but they have a spotted (rather than streaked) front with a buff wash and the back has a crisper scaly appearance, with prominent light-grey edge lining.

Twitcher's tip

Among the various species of small sandpipers and stints, Terek Sandpipers are the only ones with a clearly upcurved 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 Terek Sandpiper is available HERE .

Terek Sandpipers are a migratory species. The preferred breeding grounds of Terek Sandpipers lie near water in the taiga from Finland in the West to northern Siberia, to about the Kolyma River, in the East. They spend the northern winters in tropical coastal East Africa, parts of Arabia, in southern and south-eastern Asia and in Australia.

In Australia Terek Sandpipers migrate from the North along the entire Australian seaboard, including Bass Strait and Tasmania. They are most common on the Coral Sea and the Great Barrier Reef. They rarely venture inland and, if so, never into the most arid parts of the continent, i.e. the major sandy deserts from the Nullarbor to South of the Kimberley.

Terek Sandpipers are found mostly in coastal mudflats and along beaches. They are only rarely seen around freshwater courses.

B. Hensen reports spotting Terek Sandpipers at Lee Point and Nightcliff, Darwin, NT, in August 2013.

In August 2014 we found a Terek Sandpiper in mudflats at East Point, Darwin, NT.

H. Mouritsen reports spotting about 50 Terek Sandpipers near Darwin, NT, in October 2015.

M. Eaton found a Terek Sandpiper at the Port of Brisbane Wader Roost, Brisbane, QLD, in December 2018. Others were found at the Stockton Sandspit, Hunter Wetlands NP, Newcastle, NSW, in December 2023. Next, the species was found at the Cairns Esplanade, QLD, in October 2024. Next, Terek Sandpipers were spotted at Campsite Beach, Roebuck Bay, near Broome, WA, in June 2026.

A. Allnutt found Terek Sandpipers at the Wallaga Lake entrance near Bermagui, NSW, in December 2018.

P. Brown found a Terek Sandpiper at Casuarina Coastal Reserver, Darwin, NT, in March 2020. Previously we have also seen Terek Sandpipers in Oman.