Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola Scientific name definitions

19–23 cm; 34–98 g; wingspan 54–57 cm. Small, graceful sandpiper; head , neck and breast finely streaked grey-brown; supercilium and throat white; upperparts black-brown with white spots, underparts white. Similar to T. ochropus, but paler, less bulky and longer-legged; underwing much paler. Has longer neck and legs than more uniform Actitis hypoleucos. Female averages slightly larger and acquires breeding plumage earlier (1 Meissner, W., Remisiewicz, M. and Gogga, P. (2012). Sex and age differences in the development of breeding plumage in the Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola during spring migration in north-eastern Poland. Orn. Fenn. 89(1): 44––52. Close ). Non-breeding adult has browner and less spotted upperparts; breast washed grey and less streaked; supercilium more distinct. Juvenile  like non-breeding adult, but warmer brown above with buff spots; breast washed grey-brown, finely streaked brown.

N & C Europe through C Siberia to Anadyrland, Kamchatka and Commander Is, and NE China; occasionally Aleutian Is. Winters mainly in tropical and subtropical Africa and across S & SE Asia to S China, Philippines, Indonesia, New Guinea and Australia.

Peatlands, open swampy areas in boreal forest, especially scrubland between tundra and coniferous forest, wet heathlands with or without scattered conifers, and marshlands with deciduous bushes. Outside breeding season, generally not associated with woodlands; found in more open areas than those favoured by T. ochropus, including open margins of inland fresh waters, muddy marshes, grassy streambanks, sewage farms, wet paddyfields, dam lakes (2 Claffey, P. (1999). Dams as new habitat in West African savannah. Bull. Afr. Bird Club. 6(2): 116–120. Close ), tiny temporary pools and streams; only rarely in coastal habitats, such as channels of saltmarshes and mangrove swamps.

Migratory. Many move to sub-Saharan Africa and India, few to Australia , with limited evidence of winter site fidelity documented in Africa (3 Sauvage, A., Rumsey, S. and Rodwell, S. (1998). Recurrence of Palaearctic birds in the lower Senegal river valley. Malimbus. 20(1): 33–53. Close , 4 Tree, A.J. (2014). The Wood Sandpiper in Zimbabwe. Honeyguide. 60(1): 38–48. Close ). On migration, scarce in W Europe, especially during N migration in May, commoner Aug to mid Sept (overall late Jun to mid Oct through Switzerland) (5 Leuzinger, H. and Jenni, L. (1993). Durchzug des Bruchwasserläufers Tringa glareola am Ägelsee bei Frauenfeld. Orn. Beob.. 90: 169–188. Close ). Migration across Europe and Middle East overland on broad front, predominantly S–SSW and probably in relatively short hops (< 1200 km (6 Minias, P., Kaczmarek, K., Włodarczyk, R., Janiszewski, T. (2010). Variation in autumn migration strategy in the first-year Wood Sandpipers Tringa glareola. Acta Orn.. 45(2): 131–138. Close ), although suggested to be capable of flights of 3500–4000 km) (4 Tree, A.J. (2014). The Wood Sandpiper in Zimbabwe. Honeyguide. 60(1): 38–48. Close ); scarce in Britain and Ireland; many stopover in N Mediterranean, especially France (Camargue) and Italy, whereafter they overfly Sahara, chiefly in SW direction to W Africa; common on passage through C Chad. Spring migration probably more easterly and has advanced in recent decades (7 Adamík, P. and Pietruszková, J. (2008). Advances in spring but variable autumnal trends in timing of inland wader migration. Acta Orn.. 43(2): 119–128. Close ), with briefer pauses and males moving earlier (8 Muraoka, Y., Schulze, C.H., Pavličev, M. and Wichmann, G. (2009). Spring migration dynamics and sex-specific patterns in stopover strategy in the Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola. Journal of Ornithology. 150(2): 313–319. Close ), passing through C Europe between mid Apr and early Jun (9 Anthes, N. (2004). Long-distance migration timing of Tringa sandpipers adjusted to recent climate change. Bird Study. 51(3): 203–211. Close ) (peak early to mid May), and movement throughout Europe occurring from mid Mar to late Jun (10 Remisiewicz, M., Meissner, W., Pinchuk, P. and Ściborski, M. (2007). Phenology of spring migration of Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola through Europe. Orn. Svecica. 17(1): 3–14. Close ). Birds wintering in E & S Africa originate from former USSR; birds wintering in India from breeding zone in Siberia between Tyumen and R Kolyma. Many E Siberian breeders pass through S Ussuriland, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, E China and Hong Kong to SE Asian wintering grounds, with only small fraction continuing to Australia, where mainly in NW; also movements through N China and Tibet. In spring (May–Jun), large numbers (sometimes 100s) pass W Aleutians, with records (mainly in autumn) of vagrants from both Pacific (British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California) and Atlantic coasts (Delaware, Newfoundland, New York, Rhode Island) of North America, and one in Yukon (11 Howell, S. N. G., I. Lewington, and W. Russell (2014). Rare Birds of North America. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ). Exceptional vagrant to, among others, Greenland, Azores, Bermuda, Caribbean (Barbados: five records, first in 1955 (12 Buckley, P.A., Massiah, E.B., Hutt, M.B., Buckley, F.G. and Hutt, H.F. (2009). The Birds of Barbados: An Annotated Checklist. BOU Checklist No. 24. British Ornithologists’ Union & British Ornithologists’ Club, Peterborough. Close ); Guadeloupe: Sept 2000 (13 Levesque, A. and Jaffard, M.-E. (2002). Fifteen new bird species in Guadeloupe (F.W.I.). El Pitirre. 15(1): 5–6. Close ); Tobago: Dec 1996–Feb 1997) (14 Kenefick, M. and Hayes, F.E. (2006). Trans-Atlantic vagrancy of Palearctic birds in Trinidad and Tobago. J. Carib. Orn.. 19(2): 61–72. Close ), as well as to New Britain, Bougainville (15 Dutson, G. (2011). Birds of Melanesia: The Bismarcks, Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) and Samoa (Mar 1996) (16 Tarburton, M. K. (2001). Observations on the status of the land birds, wading birds and seabirds of Samoa. Emu 101(4):349–360. Close ).

On breeding grounds chiefly takes small, especially aquatic, insects, up to 2 cm long, e.g. beetles, Hemiptera, larvae of Diptera. Elsewhere, aquatic and terrestrial insects  and their larvae, worms, spiders, crustaceans, molluscs, small fish (up to 2 cm), tadpoles and even frogs; sometimes plant matter (seeds). Gleans, pecks, probes or sweeps bill through water; also able to catch flying insects from air. Mainly detects prey visually. Feeds in shallow water or on mud; occasionally swims. Often feeds singly , but also in pairs or scattered groups. May defend feeding territories.

Song given mainly during gliding phase of display flight is a loud, far-carrying and rapidly repeated elements, rendered “deele”, “tweedley” or “liro”; commonest call an excited, shrill but rather dry and not melodious “chiff-chiff-chiff” or “weef-weef-weef”, while other, less frequently heard calls generally recall quieter notes of T. ochropus or T. nebularia.

Lays May to mid Jul. Monogamous, with male or female generally arriving on nesting grounds simultaneously (17 Snow, D. W., and C. M. Perrins, Editors (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Concise Edition. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Solitary; normally 1–10 pairs/km², but up to 50 birds/km² in forest tundra. Nest is scrape (mean diameter 8–10 cm, 4–5 cm deep) (17 Snow, D. W., and C. M. Perrins, Editors (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Concise Edition. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ) lined with moss, stems and leaves, on ground among dense cover; also frequently in trees, in old nests of other species, e.g. thrush (Turdus) (17 Snow, D. W., and C. M. Perrins, Editors (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Concise Edition. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Four eggs, sometimes three, with laying interval 1–2 days, pale greenish or olive with blackish-brown or purplish-brown markings, mean size 38·3 mm × 26·4 mm (18 Harrison, C. J. O., and P. Castell (2002). Bird Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of Britain and Europe with North Africa and the Middle East. Second revised edition. HarperCollins, London, UK. Close ); single brood; incubation 22–23 days, by both sexes; chick pale buff to pale cream marked fuscous black and mottled greyish brown to cinnamon on upper back, with wide dark cap and white belly; from 7–10 days after hatching, care of young usually only by male, at least in latter half of period; fledging 28–30 days. Annual adult mortality 46%, first-year mortality 83–88%. Oldest ringed bird 11 years, seven months (4 Tree, A.J. (2014). The Wood Sandpiper in Zimbabwe. Honeyguide. 60(1): 38–48. Close ). Age of first breeding one year.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). European breeding population estimated at up to 1,400,000 pairs, representing probably around one fifth to quarter of total world population (1994). Possibly more than 1,000,000 birds wintering in SW Asia and E & C Africa, where 250,000–500,000 in Sudan, 30,000 on W shore of L Edward, DRCongo; 100,000s in SC Asia and in E & SE Asia. In W Africa, up to 15,000 winter in Mali (19 Girard, O., Niagaté, B., Thal, J. and Boutin, J.M. (2009). Les limicoles au Mali, en particulier dans le Delta interieur du Niger. Malimbus. 31(1): 1–19. Close ). Australian non-breeding population estimated at 6000 birds; has benefited from irrigation schemes and construction of open sewage ponds. Breeding population has declined in some European countries, especially Finland, where 200,000–300,000 pairs in late 1980s; decline mainly due to exploitation, destruction or drainage of peatlands for forestry and agriculture; decline noted in Denmark (35 pairs in 1985), S Sweden, Germany (formerly common, but fewer than five pairs in mid 1980s and just one in 2005–2009) (20 Gedeon, K., C. Grüneberg, A. Mitschke, C. Sudfeldt, W. Eikhorst, S. Fischer, M. Flade, S. Frick, I. Geiersberger, B. Koop, M. Kramer, T. Krüger, N. Roth, T. Ryslavy, S. Stübing, S. R. Sudmann, S. Steffens, F. Vökler, and K. Witt (2014). Atlas Deutscher Brutvogelarten [Atlas of German Breeding Birds]. Stiftung Vogelmonitoring Deutschland und Dachverband Deutscher Avifaunisten, Münster, Germany. Close ), Lithuania (at most 40–50 pairs), Poland (just 5–10 pairs in 1980s) and Ukraine (50–60 pairs in 1986), possibly due to climatic changes. Populations in Sweden (50,000–100,000 pairs in late 1980s), Norway (20,000–40,000 pairs in 1970–1990) and European Russia (100,000–1,000,000 pairs in 1970–1990) were fairly stable at end of 20th century, while numbers have been increasing in Fennoscandia during present century (21 Lindström, Å., Green, M., Husby, M., Kålås, J.A. and Lehikoinen, A. (2015). Large-scale monitoring of waders on their boreal and Arctic breeding grounds in northern Europe. Ardea. 103(1): 3–15. Close ); status of population E of Urals poorly known. Very rare breeding bird in British Isles (almost always in Scotland), first recorded 1800s, but only regularly since 1959, with up to 32 pairs in single year (22 Chisholm, K. (2007). History of the Wood Sandpiper as a breeding bird in Britain. British Birds. 100(2): 112–121. Close , 23 Holling, M., and The Rare Breeding Birds Panel (2014). Rare breeding birds in the United Kingdom in 2012. British Birds 107(9):504–560. Close ). Occasionally breeds in Iceland (e.g. early 1980s) (17 Snow, D. W., and C. M. Perrins, Editors (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Concise Edition. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Formerly bred in Netherlands (24 Jansen, J.J.F.J. (2014). Former breeding of Eurasian Golden Plover, Dunlin and Wood Sandpiper in Limburg and Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands. Dutch Birding. 36(1): 9–19. Close ) and Bulgaria (17 Snow, D. W., and C. M. Perrins, Editors (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Concise Edition. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). First North American breeding record in 1969.