Common Sandpiper

Actitis hypoleucos (Linnaeus, 1758)

Common Sandpiper, Actitis hypoleucos, breeds across much of the Palearctic beside inland waters, from the British Isles and Scandinavia through Russia to Japan, and south to Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and Kashmir. Outside the breeding season it moves to Africa, the Middle East, southern Asia, Australia and many islands of the Paleotropics. It is a small wader with greyish-brown upperparts, white underparts, dark-yellowish legs and feet, and a bill that is pale at the base and dark at the tip. In winter it looks duller, with wing barring that is only easy to see at close range.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Scolopacidae — Sandpipers, Snipes

Breeding range

Palearctic: widespread, subarctic to temperate inland waterbody margins of Palearctic: British Isles n to Scandinavia s to Iberian Pen., e through temperate Russia to ec Chukotskiy Pen. (ne Russia), s from Turkey, Caucasus, Iran, c Asia to Kashmir (nw Himalayas), n Mongolia, ne China and Japan

Nonbreeding range

AF, OR, AU, also Middle East : tropical to subtropical inland and coastal waterbodies of Paleotropics: sw Europe, s Macaronesia (nw of w Africa), Africa, Malagasy region, s Middle East, s, se Asia, Indonesian Arch., Philippines, Taiwan, e China, s Japan, New Guinea, Australia, Bismarck Arch. to Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Micronesia