Medium. Very long legs, with medium length, slender straight bill, smallish head and thin neck. Sexes alike.
Adults: Breeding: Eyebrow, indistinct. Eye, dark brown. Upperparts, light brownish-grey. Crown, back, scapulars, tertials, streaked, notched or spotted with blackish-brown. Lower back, rump, uppertail coverts, white, forming a wedge up the back. Tail, white, finely barred with dark brown. Lesser coverts, dark greyish-brown. Flight feathers, blackish, and out primary has a visible white shaft. Underparts, white. Lower neck, breast have small dark brown spots. Underwing, white contrasting with dark flight feathers. Bill, mostly black with some greenish-grey at the base. Legs, yellow-green, grey-green or yellow. Non-breeding: Forehead, lores, white. Eyebrow, more distinct. Upperparts, more uniformly brownish-grey. Underparts, entirely white.
Immatures: Like non-breeding adult, but with buff edges to feathers.
Other Names (World)
Marsh Sandpiper, Little Greenshank
Family
Scolopacidae (Sandpipers, Snipes, Phalaropes)
Habits
Singly or in small to large groups, often associating with other waders including Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia). Teeters, rocking head back.
Food
Small fish, crustaceans, molluscs, and both aquatic and terrestrial insects.
Voice
A sharp 'yip-chik'. Also a musical 'chiff, chiff', twittering trills and a soft 'teeoo'. A clear, whistling 'kiew', repeated frequently.
Marsh Sandpiper (Tringa stagnatilis) [XC668489]
by Grzegorz Kaczorowski from Zvejsola, Nag\u013cu pagasts, Latvia (call)
Marsh Sandpiper (Tringa stagnatilis) [XC474420]
by Lars Edenius from Lillsk\u00e4rsudden, V\u00e4sterbottens l\u00e4n, Sweden (flight call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. Breeds May - July in Eurasia.
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Nest
A shallow depression in short vegetation, lined sparsely with grass, often on a mound at the marshy edge of a lagoon, lake or pool.
Eggs (Guide)
Usually 4; slightly glossy, buff to green-tinged with brown blotches and streaks; oval to pyriform; about 37 x 27 mm. Incubation: by both sexes.
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Similar Species
Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia)
Larger. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Has an upcurved, two toned bill. Not as white about the forehead, face and neck.
Wilson's Phalarope (Steganopus tricolor)
Similar size. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Has shorter, pale yellow legs, partially lobed. In flight, white rump shows as a saddle between grey back and greyish tail.
Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola)
Slightly smaller. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Bill is straight, black but shorter. Browner with a white eyebrow. Upperparts are spotted white. Has a smaller white rump. Legs, shorter and yellow.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet