Wood Sandpiper
Tringa glareola
The Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) is a common sandpiper found in 163 countries, weighing about 62 g. The wood sandpiper is a small wader belonging to the sandpiper family Scolopacidae.
About the Wood Sandpiper
The wood sandpiper is a small wader belonging to the sandpiper family Scolopacidae. A Eurasian species, it is the smallest of the shanks, a genus of mid-sized, long-legged waders that largely inhabit freshwater and wetland environments, as opposed to the maritime or coastal habitats of other, similar species.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
The wood sandpiper resembles a longer-legged, more delicate form of the aforementioned green sandpiper (T. ochropus), or a solitary sandpiper (T. solitaria), albeit with a shorter, finer bill, brown back and longer yellowish legs. The wood sandpiper differs from the green by having a smaller, less contrasting white rump-patch, while the solitary sandpiper has no rump-patch, at all. However, the wood sandpiper is not closely related to these two species; its closest relative is the common redshank (T. totanus), with which it shares a sister relationship with the marsh sandpiper (T.
What the Wood Sandpiper sounds like
Where it lives
Recorded as a rare visitor in Canada, Mexico, Faroe Islands, Mayotte, Maldives, Samoa.
When to see it
The Wood Sandpiper can be seen all year round, with peak activity in May. It is a resident species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify a Wood Sandpiper?
- The wood sandpiper resembles a longer-legged, more delicate form of the aforementioned green sandpiper (T. ochropus), or a solitary sandpiper (T. solitaria), albeit with a shorter, finer bill, brown back and longer yellowish legs. Full identification notes are on this page.
- How big is a Wood Sandpiper?
- The Wood Sandpiper is a medium sized bird weighing about 62 g.
- Where can you see a Wood Sandpiper?
- The Wood Sandpiper occurs in 163 countries, including Sweden, India, Taiwan, Finland and Norway.
- What does a Wood Sandpiper sound like?
- You can listen to 3 field recordings of the Wood Sandpiper on this page, contributed to xeno-canto under open licences.
- What birds look similar to a Wood Sandpiper?
- The Wood Sandpiper is most easily confused with the Green Sandpiper, the Solitary Sandpiper and the Common Greenshank.
- Is the Wood Sandpiper endangered?
- The Wood Sandpiper is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Learn the Wood Sandpiper for real
BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.
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