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8

Wood Sandpiper

(Tringa glareola)
German name(s): "Bruchwasserläufer"
Size: 20-22 cm; wing span 55-60 cm
Weight: 40-100 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 Wood 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 Wood Sandpiper in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, July 2019]

Near-frontal view of a Wood Sandpiper in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, July 2019]

Near-lateral view of a Wood Sandpiper in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, July 2019]

Wood Sandpipers in breeding plumage seen in different light conditions; note the apparent difference not only in brightness, but also in colour - the two photos were taken only 72 seconds apart! (photos courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, July 2019]

NON-BREEDING

Near-frontal view of a Wood Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, December 2017]

Near-frontal view of a Wood Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage leaning sideways (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, November 2021]

Near-lateral view of a Wood Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, December 2017]

Lateral view of a Wood Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, November 2021]

Lateral view of a Wood Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, November 2021]

Lateral view of a Wood Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, November 2021]

Lateral view of a Wood Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, November 2021]

Near-dorsal view of a Wood Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, November 2021]

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 of Wood Sandpipers are available on the page for Australia.

Behaviour

Even aquatic birds such as Wood Sandpipers need to take a bath to clean their plumage (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, July 2019]

Food, Diet

Lateral view of a Wood Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage gobbling up its prey (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, November 2021]

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.

wospipe_dw_20200726.m4a (Poland) Contact call © DW
wospipe_dw_20190720.m4a (Poland) Contact calls © DW
wospipe_dw_20190720_2.m4a (Poland) ? © DW

More Wood 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.

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If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.