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8

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

Europe: Family Group 8 Family Group 8 Table Ruddy Turnstone Common Snipe Bar-tailed Godwit Black-tailed Godwit Eurasian Curlew Whimbrel Little Curlew Sanderling Temminck's Stint Little Stint Dunlin Purple Sandpiper Common Greenshank Common Redshank Spotted Redshank Lesser Yellowlegs Wood Sandpiper Curlew Sandpiper Common Sandpiper Green Sandpiper Ruff Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Similar species

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

Physical description Click here for a physical description Common Sandpipers are small waders. Their plumage is cryptic. When seen in Europe, they are in breeding 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. For those who have difficulties telling Common Sandpipers and Green Sandpipers apart, there is a photo showing both species together HERE. The correct identification of waders ("shorebirds"), e.g. of the Calidris, Tringa, Actitis etc. 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, 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 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, Arabia, southern Asia and Australia. In Europe Common Sandpipers are widespread and can be found almost everywhere, EXCEPT an area from the southern Baltic Sea coastline via Denmark, most of the North Sea coastline to the French Atlantic coastline, which also encompasses most of inland north-western Germany, the Benelux countries, south-eastern England and western France. Common Sandpipers are often found along beaches, but even more regularly around fresh water ponds and river banks. Where to look? How to find this species? Common Sandpipers can usually be found around stagnant, often eutrophic, fresh water.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Both J. Pires and G. Pinelas report finding Common Sandpipers regularly in various locations in central Portugal. D. Wilczynska reports spotting Common Sandpipers annually during the breeding season on the banks of the river Bug, near Brok and Malkinia, Masovia, Poland. S. Cuturilov reports spotting a Common Sandpiper at a fish pond near Becej, Serbia, in July 2017. M. Eaton found a Common Sandpiper near Wadebridge, Cornwall, England, in September 2019. G. Normand reports spotting a Common Sandpiper in Tirana, Albania, in August 2021. Common Sandpipers were also found by us in Oman and in Australia.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

BREEDING

Near-frontal view of a Common Sandpiper (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, July 2019]

Near-frontal view of a Common Sandpiper (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Cascais, Lisbon, Portugal, March 2017]

Near-lateral view of a Common Sandpiper (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, August 2019]

Near-lateral view of a Common Sandpiper (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, August 2019]

Near-lateral view of a Common Sandpiper (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sorraia river, Coruche, Santarem, Portugal, February 2019]

Near-lateral view of a Common Sandpiper (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sesimbra, Setubal, Portugal, March 2019]

Lateral view of a Common Sandpiper (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, March 2016]

Lateral view of a Common Sandpiper (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, July 2019]

Lateral view of a Common Sandpiper (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Aveiro, Portugal, February 2019]

Lateral view of a Common Sandpiper stretching a wing (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Cascais, Lisbon, Portugal, March 2017]

Lateral view of a Common Sandpiper issuing its call (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sorraia River, Coruche, Santarem, Portugal, March 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a Common Sandpiper (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, March 2016]

Lateral view of a Common Sandpiper in flight; note the prominent wing bar (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, August 2018]

Lateral view of a Common Sandpiper in flight; note the prominent wing bar (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Divor dam, Arraiolos, Evora, Portugal, August 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a Common Sandpiper in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Seixal, Tejo estuary, Portugal, July 2019]

Dorsal view of a Common Sandpiper in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Montijo, Tejo estuary, Portugal, July 2019]

NON-BREEDING

Near-frontal view of a Common Sandpiper on its perch (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, August 2019]

Near-frontal view of a Common Sandpiper on its perch (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2015]

Near-lateral view of a Common Sandpiper (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, August 2019]

Close-up lateral view of a Common Sandpiper (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, March 2020]

Lateral view of a Common Sandpiper (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2015]

Close-up dorsal view of a Common Sandpiper (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, March 2020]

Lateral view of a moulting Common Sandpiper in flight; note the white wing bar and the dark uppertail with white outer edges (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Port of Sesimbra, Sesimbra, Setubal, Portugal, February 2020]

Comparison between a Common Sandpiper, left, and a Green Sandpiper, both in non-breeding plumage
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2018]

Northern Lapwings in non-breeding plumage, together with several species of very similar waders: Green Sandpiper, front left, Wood Sandpiper, near the centre, and all others are Common Sandpipers (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, July 2019]

More photos were taken by us in Oman and in Australia.

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...

Common Sandpiper in a very typical stance seen, e.g., just before striking a flying insect (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, July 2019]

Common Sandpipers congregating on a "rock" (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Montargil Dam, Ponte de Sor, Evora, Portugal, September 2019]

Food, Diet

Like other members of the Tringa, Xenus and Actitis families we have seen Common Sandpipers hunt insects (in particular flies) and other small animals along the edges of shallow water. Common Sandpipers are excellent flycatchers.

Frontal view of a Common Sandpiper hunting a fly (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Cascais, Lisbon, Portugal, March 2017]

Near-frontal view of a Common Sandpiper hunting a fly in the characteristic stance (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Cascais, Lisbon, Portugal, March 2017]

Near-frontal view of a Common Sandpiper taking a fly in the characteristic stance (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Cascais, Lisbon, Portugal, March 2017]

Near-lateral view of a Common Sandpiper hunting in fast-flowing water (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, December 2016]

Lateral view of a Common Sandpiper hunting a fly in the characteristic stance (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Cascais, Lisbon, Portugal, March 2017]

Lateral view of a Common Sandpiper feeling for prey under water (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, August 2019]

Lateral view of a Common Sandpiper, with its prey, and a female Western Yellow Wagtail (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, August 2019]

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.

Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Mon, 7 February 2022, 21:00 +00:00