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Green Sandpiper

Tringa ochropusOrder: CHARADRIIFORMES Family: Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)
Codes: Common Name: GRSA Scientific Name: TRIOCH ITIS Taxonomic No.: 176632
Least Concern
 
Green Sandpiper: The breeding adult Green Sandpiper has dark gray-brown upperparts with white streaking and spotting and the underparts are white.
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Green Sandpiper Variations

Green Sandpiper
Juvenile
Green Sandpiper
Green Sandpiper
Breeding Adult
Green Sandpiper

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Attracting Clingers

Overview

Green Sandpiper: Medium sandpiper with pale-spotted, dark gray-brown back and rump, white underparts with dark streaks on neck, upper breast, sides. Head is dark and eye-ring is white. Tail is white with fine dark spotting at tip. Bill, legs, feet are olive-green. Swift flight with rapid wing beats.

Range and Habitat

Green Sandpiper: Breeds in northern forests across Europe and Asia, winters around small bodies of water across a broad geographic area from Africa to Southeast Asia. Very rarely shows up in spring on the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.

Topo Map: Sandpiper-like Body


Listen to Call

Voice Text

"weet weet wit wit"

Interesting Facts

 The Green Sandpiper was first described by Linnaeus in 1758.

 Unlike most other birds in its family, it will nest in trees.

 It is also known to adopt old nests from other species, such as the Fieldfare.

 A group of sandpipers has many collective nouns, including a "bind", "contradiction", "fling", "hill", and "time-step" of sandpipers.


Bird Term Glossary



Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

David Wenzel

Splitbar
Range Map for Green Sandpiper

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Family
Species Tringa ochropus
Length8.3 - 9.4 Inches
Wingspan16.5 Inches

Green Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper: Medium sandpiper with pale-spotted, dark gray-brown back and rump, white underparts with dark streaks on neck, upper breast, sides. Head is dark and eye-ring is white. Tail is white with fine dark spotting at tip. Bill, legs, feet are olive-green. Swift flight with rapid wing beats.

● Song: "weet weet wit wit"

● Foraging & Feeding: Green Sandpiper: Feeds by pecking small insects and invertebrates from surface of water and vegetation, while walking along the margins of small pools and puddles. Does not like open areas and more likely to be found along ditches, streams, or sheltered ponds. Walks with a distinct teetering gait, pumping its head and tail up and down nervously.

● Breeding & nesting: Green Sandpiper: Breeds in swampy or wet forests at northern latitudes across Europe and Asia. Nests in trees and uses old nests left by other birds with no effort to modify or improve the nest on its own. Lays four light gray eggs with small red brown spots. Both parents incubate for 20 to 23 days. Chicks are cared for by both parents, though the female often leaves before the chicks fledge fully.

● Similar species: Green Sandpiper: Solitary Sandpiper has dark rump and dark central tail stripe. Wood Sandpiper has pale white underwing linings and is more distinctly spotted and streaked.

Flight Pattern

Rapid flight with deep wingbeats, when flushed may zigzag wildly then tower high in the sky before plummeting suddenly back to the ground.
Green Sandpiper: Breeding Adult
● Range & Habitat: Green Sandpiper: Breeds in northern forests across Europe and Asia, winters around small bodies of water across a broad geographic area from Africa to Southeast Asia. Very rarely shows up in spring on the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
Population
MigrationMigratory
Weight2.5 Ounces
Sandpiper-like BodyX
UnderpartsX
Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.
BreastX
The upper front part of a bird.
RumpX
The area between the uppertail coverts and the back of the bird.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX