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8

Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) Size: 21-24 cm; wing span 57-61 cm Weight: 53-112 g

Oman: Family Group 8 Family Group 8 Table Ruddy Turnstone Green Sandpiper Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Terek Sandpiper Common Sandpiper Common Greenshank Marsh Sandpiper Bar-tailed Godwit Black-tailed Godwit Whimbrel Eurasian Curlew Temminck's Stint Sanderling Thumbnails page Classification table Index of bird names 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 Green Sandpipers are small waders. Their plumage is cryptic. When seen in Arabia, they are usually in non-breeding plumage. During the non-breeding season they have a grey head, except for some light striation on the throat and white eye-rings. The upper chest is greyish-brown. The rest of the front, from the lower chest to the undertail coverts, is white. The crown, nape of the neck and back are greyish-brown, with sparse white speckles on mantle and wings. In-flight they do not show a wing bar, but a white rump and uppertail with three black bars. During the breeding season, head and neck show more white streaking and the spot pattern on the back becomes bolder, although the differences are subtle. The eyes have dark irises. The olive-grey bill has a dark-grey tip, is straight and a bit longer than the size of the head. The legs and feet are olive-grey. In flight the toes of the feet protrude beyond the tip of the tail. Juveniles roughly resemble non-breeding adults, but they have a darker general appearance, less prominent eye-rings and a tidier spot pattern. Twitcher's tip Compared with Common Sandpipers, Green Sandpipers are larger and do not have white shoulder bars or wing bars. 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.

Taxonomy, classification See Green Sandpiper at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat 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 Green Sandpiper is available HERE . Green Sandpipers are a strongly migratory species. They breed throughout subarctic Europe and Asia and spend the northern winters in southern Europe, parts of Arabia, the Indian subcontinent, South-east Asia, and tropical Africa. In Arabia they are usually found during their migration between Africa and Asia. During their stopovers they feed in freshwater habitats, e.g. around lakes and ponds, also sewage treatment works, i.e. mostly on the near-coastal fringe, including the North coast of Oman. Green Sandpipers have a strong preference for fresh water habitats, often in wooded areas, such as bogs and marshes. On migration they are also often found in roadside ditches and the edges of ponds, again often with concealing vegetation.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Green Sandpipers have been spotted by us on the Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, in the time fame August-October 2009. Twitcher's tip For those who have difficulties telling Green Sandpipers and Common Sandpipers apart, there is a photo below showing both species together.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

NON-BREEDING

Near-frontal view of a Green Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, November 2009]

Lateral view of a Green Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, September 2009]

Green Sandpiper seen in different light conditions
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, December 2009]

Green Sandpiper on the hunt

Green Sandpiper stalking prey in shallow water
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, November 2009]

Green Sandpiper (left) and Common Sandpiper (right) seen next to each other
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, November 2009]

This Green Sandpiper is having its rest on-shore
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, September 2009]

This Green Sandpiper prefers to sit on a stone surrounded by water
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, December 2009]

Food, Diet

Like other members of the Tringa, Xenus and Actitis families we have seen Green Sandpipers hunt insects, other small animals and also small fish along the edges of shallow water. Green Sandpipers were seen by us around fresh water.

Green Sandpiper trying to swallow a fish, but it is a tight fit
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, November 2009]

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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