Wood Sandpiper
Tringa glareola
Medium-sized brownish wader with a white belly, varied pale spotting and spangling on back. In flight shows plain upperwings, square white rump patch. Legs greenish yellow. Breeds in bogs and marshes in open coniferous and mixed forests. Migrants and wintering birds occur in varied wetland habitats, especially with grassy and other vegetation cover. Walks in shallow water, picking with its bill. Mainly found as singles or small flocks, not mixed with other species. Bobs tail when nervous, but not habitually like Common Sandpiper.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Tringa glareola
- Authority
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Scolopacidae
- Genus
- Tringa
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- PAL : inland subarctic to temperate wooded wetlands of n Palearctic: Scotland (n British Is.), n Scandinavia, Austria e through inland n Russia to w Chukotskiy Pen., to e Siberia and ne China, in s through n Mongolia, ne China, Kamchatka and Commander Is. (e Russia)
- Non-breeding range
- AF, OR, AU : inland subtropical to tropical small open wetlands of Paleotropics: Africa, s Arabian Pen., s, se Asia, Indonesian Arch., New Guinea, Australia (except Tasmania), Philippines, Taiwan, e China and Ryukyu Is. (s Japan)
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
The wood sandpiper breeds in subarctic wetlands from the Scottish Highlands across Europe and then east across the Palearctic. They migrate to Africa, Southern Asia, particularly India, and Australia. Vagrant birds have been seen as far into the Pacific as the Hawaiian Islands. In Micronesia it is a regular visitor to the Mariana Islands (where flocks of up to 32 birds are reported) and Palau; it is recorded on Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands about once per decade. This species is encountered in the western Pacific region between mid-October and mid-May. A slight westward expansion saw the establishment of a small but permanent breeding population in Scotland since the 1950s.<p>This bird is usually found on freshwater during migration and wintering. They forage by probing in shallow water or on wet mud, and mainly eat insects and similar small prey. T. glareola nests on the ground or uses an abandoned old tree nest of another bird, such as the fieldfare (Turdus pilaris). Four pale green eggs are laid between March and May.<p>Adult wood sandpipers moult all their primary feathers between August and December, whilst immature birds moult varying number of outer primaries between December and April, much closer to their departure from Africa. Immatures are also much more flexible than adults in the timing and rate of their moult and refueling. Adults and immatures which accumulate fuel loads of c.50% of their lean body mass can potentially cross distances of 2397–4490 km in one non-stop flight.<p>The wood sandpiper is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.<p>Widespread, it is considered a Species of Least Concern by the IUCN.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Fire-bellied Woodpecker
Chloropicus pyrrhogaster
A large, long-billed woodpecker with an olive back, a red rump, a bold facial pattern, and heavily marked underparts with a bright red central belly stripe. The crown and back of the head are black in the female and red in males. Forages alone or in pairs, preferring dead tree trunks where it can excavate for beetle larvae and other insects in lowland rainforest, gallery forest, and plantations. Calls include a sharp “kwip,” a series of similar notes, and a fast whinnying call. Also gives a distinctive drum that lasts about 2 seconds, beginning fast and then slowing. Similar to Bearded and Yellow-crested Woodpeckers, but there is very little overlap in range, and those species lack the red belly patch.
Pheasant-tailed Jacana
Hydrophasianus chirurgus
An eye-catching waterbird found on lakes and ponds with extensive floating vegetation. Long-tailed breeding adults are striking: the large white wing patch and head contrast sharply with its black body and bright yellow neck patch. Short-tailed wintering adults and juveniles have a brown back, white underparts, and a toned-down version of the breeder's head pattern. Vocalizations include a variety of nasal clucking and purring calls; song, seldom heard, a repeated, ringing “ku-woo.”
White-chinned Jacamar
Galbula tombacea
Similar to many other species of jacamar: mostly glittering emerald-green with a rufous belly, long tail, and long pointed bill. Sexes are similar; female has a paler belly. Found in northwestern Amazonia, where pairs occur in the lower to mid-levels of mature lowland forest, often around water. Namesake white chin is not super conspicuous but usually visible. Also note brownish crown. Most similar to Bluish-fronted Jacamar, but apparently no range overlap.
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