Bird Guide

Green Sandpiper

Tringa ochropus

Least ConcernInvertebratesWetlandCavity nestMedium · 71 g

About the Green Sandpiper

The green sandpiper is a small wader (shorebird) of the Old World.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

ID tip

This species is a somewhat plump wader with a dark greenish-brown back and wings, greyish head and breast and otherwise white underparts. The back is spotted white to varying extents, being maximal in the breeding adult, and less in winter and young birds. The legs and short bill are both dark green. It is conspicuous and characteristically patterned in flight, with the wings dark above and below and a brilliant white rump. The latter feature reliably distinguishes it from the slightly smaller but otherwise very similar solitary sandpiper (T. solitaria) of North America.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

What the Green Sandpiper sounds like

Recording: Sonothèque ADVL · CC0 · via xeno-canto
Recording: Philippe_Grange · CC0 · via xeno-canto
Recording: Grégoire Chauvot · CC0 · via xeno-canto

Where the Green Sandpiper lives

Regular rangeRare visitor

Recorded as a rare visitor in United States, Australia, Somalia, Guadeloupe, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Northern Mariana Islands.

When to see the Green Sandpiper

Peak activity in April · a resident species across most of its range

Easily confused with

Side by side: Green Sandpiper vs Wood Sandpiper · Common Greenshank vs Green Sandpiper · Green Sandpiper vs Solitary Sandpiper

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