Medium. Slim appearance with long legs. Sexes alike.
Adults: Breeding: Eyebrow, white extending to nape. Eye, dark brown. Lores, blackish. Upperparts, dark greyish-brown streaked on crown, mottled and spotted white on back and scapulars. Rump, uppertail coverts, throat, and belly, white. Tail, barred dark greyish-brown and white. Sides of face, neck and breast, white and heavily streaked with dark grey brown. Barred on flanks. Undertail coverts, white and sparsely barred with dark grey brown. Underwing, whitish and faintly barred. Bill, black at tip, yellowish-green at base. Legs, yellow-greenish. Non-breeding: Upperparts, browner and with fewer spots. Breast, pale greyish-brown with fewer streaks. No barring on flanks.
Immatures: Upperparts, buffier. Breast, buff with brown streaks.
Family
Scolopacidae (Sandpipers, Snipes, Phalaropes)
Regular summer migrant (September - April), common in the north, less common in the south.
Habitat
Muddy margins of freshwater wetlands and mudflats, particularly where there is abundant vegetation, tidal mangroves, saltmarshes and sewerage ponds.
Afghanistan (P), Albania, Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus (B), Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, China (mainland), Christmas Island, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Côte dIvoire, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (P), Cyprus (P), Czech Republic, Denmark (B) (P), Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia (B) (P), Ethiopia, Finland (B) (P), France (NB) (P), Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany (B) (P), Ghana, Greece (P), Guam (NB), Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Hong Kong (China), Hungary, Iceland (B), India, Indonesia, Iran [Islamic Republic of], Iraq (NB) (P), Ireland (NB), Israel, Italy (P), Japan, Jordan (P), Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia (B) (P), Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Lithuania (B), Luxembourg, Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of], Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands (NB), Mauritania, Micronesia [Federated States of] (NB), Moldova [Republic of], Mongolia (B), Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Northern Mariana Islands (NB), Norway (B) (P), Oman, Pakistan, Palau (NB), Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland (B) (P), Portugal (NB), Qatar, Romania (P), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B) (P), Russia (European) (B) (NB), Rwanda, Sâo Tomé e Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia (Slovak Republic), Slovenia (P), Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain (NB), Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden (B) (P), Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Taiwan (China), Tajikistan, Tanzania [United Republic of], Thailand, Timor-Leste (NB) (P), Togo, Tunisia, Turkey (NB), Turkmenistan (B), Uganda, Ukraine (B) (P), United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (B), USA (B), Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Vagrant to Anguilla, Antigua And Barbuda, Barbados, Comoros, Costa Rica, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Faroe Islands, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Honduras, Liechtenstein, Martinique, Mauritius, Montserrat, Nicaragua, St Kitts And Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago.
Northern Europe through central Siberia to Anadyrland, Kamchatka and Commander Is; occasionally Aleutian Is. Winters mainly in tropical and subtropical Africa, across southern Asia to southern China, Philippines, Indonesia and Australia.
Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) [XC770215]
by JISHNU KIZHAKKILLAM from Karcag, Karcag District, J\u00e1sz-Nagykun-Szolnok, Hungary (call, flight call)
Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) [XC795456]
by Tiiu Tali from Rannak\u00fcla, Elva Parish, Tartu maakond, Estonia (song)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. Breeds May - July in north hemisphere.
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Nest
A depression in the ground, in dense vegatation, sometimes in an old nest in a tree.
Eggs (Guide)
3 - 4; slightly glossy, pale green to buff, blotched with dark purple-brown; oval to pyriform; about 38 x 26 mm. Incubation: 22 - 23 days; by both sexes.
Young
Fledge in about 30 days. Fed by both sexes at first, then by male.
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Similar Species
Marsh Sandpiper (Tringa stagnatilis)
Slightly larger. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Has a longer, straight, needle-like black bill. Underparts are whiter and not spotted. Lacks a distinct eyebrow.
Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)
Slightly smaller. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Upperparts are browner, and lacks any spots. Has a distinctive white 'hook' around the bend of the wing, and a brown wash across the breast. Lacks a white rump. In flight, has a narrow, white wingbar.
Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus)
Slightly larger. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Upperparts, dark grey but also with spots. Underparts, completely white with no flank streaking. Legs, shorter, greyish-green.
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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