Sandpiper

Sandpipers are a group of birds that live near water, especially on beaches and muddy areas. They belong to a large family called Scolopacidae, which also includes other birds like woodcocks, curlews, and snipes. These birds have long legs and narrow bodies. They eat small creatures they find in the mud or sand using their sensitive bills.

Sandpipers come in different sizes, ranging from about 12 to 66 cm long. Most of them have brown or grey feathers that help them blend into their environment. They are good at finding food because their bills can feel the movements of tiny animals in the sand.

These birds usually make simple nests on the ground and lay three or four eggs. The baby birds are ready to move around soon after hatching.

Taxonomy

The family Scolopacidae was introduced in 1815 by French scientist Constantine Samuel Rafinesque. It includes 98 species in 15 groups, or genera. For more information, see the article List of sandpiper species.

Image	Genus	Living and recently extinct species
	Bartramia F. Boie, 1826	Upland sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda
	Numenius Brisson, 1760	Bristle-thighed curlew, Numenius tahitiensis Eurasian whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus Hudsonian whimbrel, Numenius hudsonicus Little curlew, Numenius minutus †? Eskimo curlew, Numenius borealis (last seen in 1987) Long-billed curlew, Numenius americanus Far Eastern curlew, Numenius madagascariensis † Slender-billed curlew, Numenius tenuirostris (last seen in 1995) Eurasian curlew, Numenius arquata
	Limosa Brisson, 1760	Bar-tailed godwit, Limosa lapponica Black-tailed godwit, Limosa limosa Hudsonian godwit, Limosa haemastica Marbled godwit, Limosa fedoa
	Limnodromus Wied-Neuwied, 1833	Asian dowitcher, Limnodromus semipalmatus Long-billed dowitcher, Limnodromus scolopaceus Short-billed dowitcher, Limnodromus griseus
	Lymnocryptes F. Boie, 1826	Jack snipe, Lymnocryptes minimus
	Scolopax Linnaeus, 1758	American woodcock, Scolopax minor (large North American range) Eurasian woodcock, Scolopax rusticola (large Eurasian range) Amami woodcock, Scolopax mira (endemic to the Amami Islands in Japan) Bukidnon woodcock, Scolopax bukidnonensis (endemic to Luzon and Mindanao in the Philippines) Javan woodcock, Scolopax saturata (endemic to Sumatra and Java in Indonesia) New Guinea woodcock, Scolopax rosenbergii (endemic to New Guinea) Sulawesi woodcock, Scolopax celebensis (endemic to Sulawesi in Indonesia) Moluccan woodcock, Scolopax rochussenii (endemic to the Maluku Islands in Indonesia)
	Coenocorypha G. R. Gray, 1855	† North Island snipe, Coenocorypha barrierensis Oliver, 1955 – also known as the Little Barrier Snipe † South Island snipe, Coenocorypha iredalei Rothschild, 1921 – also known as the Stewart Island Snipe Chatham snipe, Coenocorypha pusilla (Buller, 1869) – Chatham Islands Snares snipe, Coenocorypha huegeli (Tristram, 1893) – Snares Islands Subantarctic snipe, Coenocorypha aucklandica (G. R. Gray, 1845) Auckland snipe, C. a. aucklandica (G. R. Gray, 1845) – Auckland Islands Antipodes snipe, C. a. meinertzhagenae Rothschild, 1927 – Antipodes Islands Campbell snipe, C. a. perseverance Miskelly & Baker, 2010 – Campbell Island † Forbes's snipe, Coenocorypha chathamica (Forbes, 1893) – Chatham Islands † Viti Levu snipe, Coenocorypha miratropica Worthy, 2003 – Fiji † New Caledonian snipe, Coenocorypha neocaledonica Worthy et al., 2013 – New Caledonia † Norfolk snipe, Coenocorypha sp. – Norfolk Island
	Gallinago Brisson, 1760	Imperial snipe, Gallinago imperialis Jameson's snipe, Gallinago jamesoni Fuegian snipe, Gallinago stricklandii Solitary snipe, Gallinago solitaria Wood snipe, Gallinago nemoricola Great snipe, Gallinago media Swinhoe's snipe, Gallinago megala Pin-tailed snipe, Gallinago stenura Latham's snipe, Gallinago hardwickii African snipe, Gallinago nigripennis Common snipe, Gallinago gallinago Wilson's snipe, Gallinago delicata Giant snipe, Gallinago undulata Noble snipe, Gallinago nobilis Puna snipe, Gallinago andina Madagascar snipe, Gallinago macrodactyla Pantanal snipe, Gallinago paraguaiae Magellanic snipe, Gallinago magellanica
	Phalaropus Brisson, 1760	Wilson's phalarope, Phalaropus tricolor Red phalarope, Phalaropus fulicarius Red-necked phalarope, Phalaropus lobatus
	Xenus Kaup, 1829	Terek sandpiper, Xenus cinereus
	Actitis Illiger, 1811	Common sandpiper, Actitis hypoleucos (of Eurasia) Spotted sandpiper, Actitis macularius (of North America)
	Tringa Linnaeus, 1758	Green sandpiper, Tringa ochropus Solitary sandpiper, Tringa solitaria Grey-tailed tattler, Tringa brevipes (formerly Heteroscelus brevipes) Wandering tattler, Tringa incana (formerly Heteroscelus incanus) Marsh sandpiper, Tringa stagnatilis Wood sandpiper, Tringa glareola Common redshank, Tringa totanus Lesser yellowlegs, Tringa flavipes Nordmann's greenshank, Tringa guttifer Willet, Tringa semipalmata (formerly Catoptrophorus semipalmatus) Spotted redshank, Tringa erythropus Common greenshank, Tringa nebularia Greater yellowlegs, Tringa melanoleuca
	Prosobonia Bonaparte, 1850	† Kiritimati sandpiper, Prosobonia cancellata † Tahiti sandpiper, Prosobonia leucoptera † Moorea sandpiper, Prosobonia ellisi Tuamotu sandpiper, Prosobonia parvirostris
	Arenaria Brisson, 1760	Ruddy turnstone, Arenaria interpres Black turnstone, Arenaria melanocephala
	Calidris Merrem, 1804	Great knot, Calidris tenuirostris Red knot, Calidris canutus Surfbird, Calidris virgata Ruff, Calidris pugnax Broad-billed sandpiper, Calidris falcinellus Sharp-tailed sandpiper, Calidris acuminata Stilt sandpiper, Calidris himantopus Curlew sandpiper, Calidris ferruginea Temminck's stint, Calidris temminckii Long-toed stint, Calidris subminuta Red-necked stint, Calidris ruficollis Spoon-billed sandpiper, Calidris pygmaea Buff-breasted sandpiper, Calidris subruficollis Sanderling, Calidris alba Dunlin, Calidris alpina Purple sandpiper, Calidris maritima Rock sandpiper, Calidris ptilocnemis Baird's sandpiper, Calidris bairdii Little stint, Calidris minuta Least sandpiper, Calidris minutilla White-rumped sandpiper, Calidris fuscicollis Pectoral sandpiper, Calidris melanotos Western sandpiper, Calidris mauri Semipalmated sandpiper, Calidris pusilla

Evolution

The early fossil record for sandpipers and their relatives is limited. This is because these birds lived around the same time as the non-avian dinosaurs. One possible early relative, called "Totanus" teruelensis, was found in Spain. It may have been a type of sandpiper or a similar shorebird.

Other ancient species, such as Paractitis from Canada and Mirolia from Germany, show that many modern sandpiper groups evolved during a time called the Oligocene to Miocene. Some fossils found in places like the Czech Republic, Austria, and the United States could belong to current sandpiper species or their extinct close relatives.

Description

Sandpipers come in many sizes and looks. They have different body shapes to match where they live. The smallest is the least sandpiper, weighing just 18 grams and measuring 11 cm. Larger ones include the Far Eastern curlew, which can be up to 66 cm long.

These birds usually have long, thin bills and slender heads. Most have three front toes and a smaller back toe. Sandpipers use their bills to feel for food in mud or water. Their bills have special sensors at the tip to help find food. The shape of their bills varies, from very long to short, and can even curve slightly. This helps each kind of sandpiper find food in its own way.

Distribution, habitat, and movements

Sandpipers live almost everywhere in the world, except in Antarctica and the driest deserts. Most of them live and breed in colder parts of the north, where they are some of the northernmost birds. Only a few kinds of sandpipers live in tropical areas. These include some snipes, woodcocks, and a special bird called the Tuamotu sandpiper that lives in French Polynesia. Before humans arrived in the Pacific, there were even more types of these birds in Polynesian sandpiper areas.

Diet and feeding

Sandpipers have four main ways of finding food. Many can use more than one method. Some sandpipers peck at the ground where the soil is dry and hard. The most common way is probing in soft mud or sand to find small animals. A few, like the Tringa shanks, chase small fish in shallow water. Others, such as phalaropes and some Calidris sandpipers, peck at the water’s surface for tiny creatures. A few sandpipers also eat seeds and plant shoots along with small animals.

Breeding

Many sandpipers form pairs for breeding, but some species have different parenting roles. Some have only females caring for the young, some have only males, and others have one female caring for multiple males in sequence. Sandpipers usually lay three or four eggs in a simple nest on the ground. Both parents may share the duty of keeping the eggs warm, taking turns at different times of the day.

After about three weeks, the eggs hatch. The baby birds, called chicks, can walk and find food shortly after hatching. Either one parent or both will help and protect the chicks as they grow.

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