Sandpipers · Shorebirds
Wood Sandpiper
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Tringa glareola
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Voice
Call
Call
Call
How to recognize it
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19–23 cm long
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Gray-brown head, neck and breast with fine streaks; white throat and stripe above the eye
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Blackish-brown back with white spots, white underside
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Legs extending noticeably beyond the tail in flight
About the species
Along a wet shoreline, the Wood Sandpiper looks brown above and white below, its dark back broken by small white spots. Fine streaks run across its gray-brown head, neck and breast, while a pale eyebrow marks the face. Long yellowish legs show beneath it as it wades, and the white underside is most visible when it lifts off.
In flight, its legs extend beyond the tail. It usually nests on the ground, but sometimes reuses an abandoned tree nest built by another species. Both parents incubate the eggs, though the female usually leaves the young after a few days.
It breeds in subarctic wetlands across northern Eurasia, then heads south for winter in Africa, South Asia or Australia. During migration and winter it keeps to freshwater edges, probing shallow water and wet mud for aquatic insects, worms, crustaceans and other small prey.
Where to find
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During migration and winter, scan the shallows at freshwater lakes for the wood sandpiper probing the bottom with its bill for prey.
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Along muddy riverbanks, watch a bill probe wet mud for insects and worms.
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On subarctic wetlands during the breeding season, nests are usually placed on the ground.
