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Wood Sandpiper
(Tringa glareola)
 German name(s): "Bruchwasserläufer"
Size: 20-22 cm; wing span 55-60 cm
Weight: 40-100 g
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Physical description |
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 Click here for a physical description
Wood Sandpipers are small waders.
Their plumage
is cryptic.
During the
breeding
season the neck and chest are light grey-brown,
with some inconspicuous striation. The flanks are of the same colour,
but with brown barring. Belly, vent and undertail coverts are white.
The head has pale, almost white eyebrows, while the frons and
crown are streaked white and dark-brown.
The back, including the wings, is dark grey-brown with prominent,
strongly contrasting white spots all over.
During the non-breeding
season the pale eyebrow is much more
prominent, while the colours are otherwise duller in general.
In particular, the colour contrast of the spots with the now
more greyish brown back is reduced.
In-flight they have three lines of spots on the upperwing, but no
wing bar.
The eyes have dark irises. The black bill is straight and
about as long as the size of the head. The legs and feet are
yellowish. In-flight the feet protrude beyond the tail.
Juveniles
have prominent buff spots on their entire back and more
brown on head and neck than adults.
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Twitcher's tip |
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Compared with most other species of
sandpipers,
they are spotted, not scalloped and/or streaked.
Various species of stints,
which can also have brownish chests, are visibly smaller.
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 Wood
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 based
on sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to the
ebird.org
website.
The global distribution of the Wood Sandpiper is available
HERE
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Wood Sandpipers are a migratory species.
Their breeding grounds are located in an area ranging
from northern Europe to far-eastern Asia.
Most Wood Sandpipers spend the northern winters in Africa, Arabia
or India, while a smaller number migrate to South-east Asia or Australia.
On their migration they can be found in many locations in between,
in parts along designated flight paths.
In Europe Wood Sandpipers are found as breeding migrants
in parts of Scotland,
in most of Scandinavia (except for some lowland coastal areas)
and in north-eastern Europe, from the Baltic States, Bielorussia
and Ukraine eastwards.
Anywhere else, except for Ireland and the western parts of Iberia,
they are found only during migration.
Wood Sandpipers have a preference for fresh or brackish water.
They are found mostly in the estuaries of major rivers and
riverine marshes, but also often in bogs or sewage treatment
plants.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
S. Cuturilov reports spotting Wood Sandpipers at a fish pond near
Temerin, Serbia, in August 2017.
We have also found Wood Sandpipers in
Australia.
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Photos |
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ADULT |
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Distant view of three Wood Sandpipers on the edge of a pond;
note the characteristic spotted appearance of the bird in the
middle (photo courtesy of S. Cuturilov)
[Near Temerin, Serbia, August 2017]
More photos of Wood Sandpipers are available on the page for
Australia.
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
Call/s
