Common Sandpiper Identification
Its scientific name is 'Actitis hypoleucos', from the family Scolopacidae (order Charadriiformes)
What I look like
The Common Sandpiper is about 20 cm. It is a bit larger than the Little Ringed Plover.
It has a crouched posture, a short neck, short legs, and a long tail.
The upper body is brown barred with dark brown, the underside is white with a white shoulder.
This white shoulder distinguishes it from the Green Sandpiper which lacks it but looks very similar.
Its short legs are grayish-green.
In flight, it shows a distinct white wing bar.
Juveniles have a paler upper body with a "buff" edging.
The Common Sandpiper resembles the Redshank (Tringa totanus) but the latter is larger, with longer and orange legs, and has white plumage streaked with brown below, and brown above.
Up close, the Redshank has a red base at the beak.
In flight, the Redshank has wide white edges at the back of the wings, a white-pointed back, a striped tail, and legs extending beyond the tail.
My songs, my calls
The Common Sandpiper can be identified by its contact call at night during migrations.
It is a rapid, very loud, slightly descending whistle "hii-di-di-di-di".
Its alarm call is a piercing "hiiiip".
In courtship flight, its song is a warbling with loud strophes in a repeated rhythm.
The Redshank is noisier and acts as a sentinel for other species. Its contact call is a sharp single or double whistle "thiu" "thiu-du" thiu-du-du.
The alarm call of the Redshank is a persistent "yipp yipp yipp". Here, we hear its contact call, followed by an alarm call.
The flight song of the Redshank is a mournful series of "tultultultul...".
How I behave
The Common Sandpiper bobs its rear body when walking.
It is often in small groups or solitary.
It flies close to the surface with nervous wing beats.
It migrates alone or in groups, often at night.
How I reproduce
The Common Sandpiper performs courtship displays before and after spring migration to bring the pair closer together.
These displays are aerial, close to the water, and accompanied by songs.
Its nest is a simple scrape in vegetation, near water, often in wooded areas.
What I eat
With its long, straight beak, it probes the mud to find food.
It hunts all sorts of insects, mollusks, and worms, at the water's edge.
In the presence of cattle, it pecks at dung to feed on flies and larvae.
Where to find me
The Common Sandpiper lives on gravel and pebble shores of lakes and vegetated rivers and along coasts.
It is migratory, coming to Europe in summer and mainly wintering in Africa and around the Mediterranean basin. Many also winter in Spain.
Some are sedentary in the southwest of France and in Spain.
It can live for about ten years.