Marsh sandpiper

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Marsh sandpiper
Tringa stagnatilis 2 - Laem Pak Bia.jpg
Winter plumage
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Genus: Tringa
Species:
T. stagnatilis
Binomial name
Tringa stagnatilis
(Bechstein, 1803)
TringaStagnatilisIUCNver2018 2.png
Range of T. stagnatilis
  Breeding
  Non-breeding
  Passage
  Vagrant (seasonality uncertain)

The marsh sandpiper (Tringa stagnatilis) is a small wader. It is a rather small shank, and breeds in open grassy steppe and taiga wetlands from easternmost Europe to the Russian Far East. The genus name Tringa is the Neo-Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek trungas, a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific stagnatilis is from Latin stagnum, "swamp". [2]

Contents

Marsh Sandpiper in Pallikaranai Chennai Marsh Sandpiper in Chennai.jpg
Marsh Sandpiper in Pallikaranai Chennai

Description

The marsh sandpiper resembles a small elegant greenshank, with a long fine bill and very long yellowish legs. Like the greenshank, it is greyish brown in breeding plumage, paler in winter, and has a white wedge up its back that is visible in flight. However, it is more closely related to the common redshank and the wood sandpiper. [3] Together, they form a group of smallish shanks which tend to have red or reddish legs, and in breeding plumage are generally a subdued, light brown above with some darker mottling, with a pattern of somewhat diffuse small brownish spots on the breast and neck. The length is 22–26 cm (8.7–10.2 in), wingspan is 55–59 cm (22–23 in) and weight is 45–120 g (1.6–4.2 oz). [4]

Distribution

The marsh sandpiper breeds in the Palearctic. It is a migratory species, with a majority of birds wintering in Africa and India, and some migrating to Southeast Asia and Australia. They prefer to winter on fresh water wetlands such as swamps and lakes and are usually seen singly or in small groups.

Marsh sandpipers are rare vagrants to North America, with most records in Alaska and California. The first marsh sandpiper recorded in Canada was found on 30 April 2022 in Thedford, Lambton County, Ontario by James Holdsworth, and attracted over a thousand birders from Ontario and Michigan, as well as birders from as far away as Texas and Washington State. [5]

Egg, Collection Museum Wiesbaden Tringa stagnatilis MWNH 0206.JPG
Egg, Collection Museum Wiesbaden

The marsh sandpiper is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common redshank</span> Species of bird

The common redshank or simply redshank is a Eurasian wader in the large family Scolopacidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunlin</span> Species of bird

The dunlin is a small wader, formerly sometimes separated with the other "stints" in the genus Erolia. The English name is a dialect form of "dunling", first recorded in 1531–1532. It derives from dun, "dull brown", with the suffix -ling, meaning a person or thing with the given quality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green sandpiper</span> Species of bird

The green sandpiper is a small wader (shorebird) of the Old World.

<i>Tringa</i> Genus of birds

Tringa is a genus of waders, containing the shanks and tattlers. The genus name Tringa is the Neo-Latin name given to the green sandpiper by the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1599. They are mainly freshwater birds, often with brightly coloured legs as reflected in the English names of six species, as well as the specific names of two of these and the green sandpiper. They are typically associated with northern hemisphere temperate regions for breeding. Some of this group—notably the green sandpiper—nest in trees, using the old nests of other birds, usually thrushes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solitary sandpiper</span> Species of bird

The solitary sandpiper is a small shorebird. The genus name Tringa is the Neo-Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek trungas, a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific solitaria is Latin for "solitary" from solus, "alone".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spotted redshank</span> Species of bird

The spotted redshank is a wader (shorebird) in the large bird family Scolopacidae. The genus name Tringa is the Neo-Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek trungas, a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific erythropus is from Ancient Greek eruthros, "red", and pous, "foot".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common greenshank</span> Species of bird

The common greenshank is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae, the typical waders. The genus name Tringa is the Neo-Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek trungas, a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific nebularia is from Latin nebula "mist". Like the Norwegian Skoddefoll, this refers to the greenshank's damp marshy habitat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey plover</span> Species of bird

The grey plover or black-bellied plover is a large plover breeding in Arctic regions. It is a long-distance migrant, with a nearly worldwide coastal distribution when not breeding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willet</span> Species of bird

The willet is a large shorebird in the family Scolopacidae. It is a relatively large and robust sandpiper and is the largest of the species called "shanks" in the genus Tringa. Its closest relative is the lesser yellowlegs, a much smaller bird with a very different appearance apart from the fine, clear, and dense pattern of the neck, which both species show in breeding plumage. It breeds in North America and the West Indies and winters in southern North America, Central America, the West Indies and South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater yellowlegs</span> Species of bird

The greater yellowlegs is a large shorebird in the family Scolopacidae. It breeds in central Canada and southern Alaska and winters in southern North America, Central America, the West Indies and South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesser yellowlegs</span> Species of medium-sized shorebird

The lesser yellowlegs is a medium-sized shorebird. It breeds in the boreal forest region of North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common sandpiper</span> Species of bird

The common sandpiper is a small Palearctic wader. This bird and its American sister species, the spotted sandpiper, make up the genus Actitis. They are parapatric and replace each other geographically; stray birds of either species may settle down with breeders of the other and hybridize. Hybridization has also been reported between the common sandpiper and the green sandpiper, a basal species of the closely related shank genus Tringa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wood sandpiper</span> Species of bird

The wood sandpiper is a small wader. This Eurasian species is the smallest of the shanks, which are mid-sized long-legged waders of the family Scolopacidae. The genus name Tringa is the Neo-Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek trungas, a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific glareola is from Latin glarea, " gravel".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temminck's stint</span> Species of bird

Temminck's stint is a small wader. This bird's common name and Latin binomial commemorate the Dutch naturalist Coenraad Jacob Temminck. The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curlew sandpiper</span> Species of bird

The curlew sandpiper is a small wader that breeds on the tundra of Arctic Siberia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terek sandpiper</span> Species of bird

The Terek sandpiper is a small migratory Palearctic wader species and is the only member of the genus Xenus. It is named after the Terek River which flows into the west of the Caspian Sea, as it was first observed around this area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-toed stint</span> Species of bird

The long-toed stint is a small wader. The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific subminuta is from Latin sub, "near to" and minuta, "small" from its similarity to the little stint, Calidris minuta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharp-tailed sandpiper</span> Species of shorebird

The sharp-tailed sandpiper is a small-medium migratory wader or shorebird, found mostly in Siberia during the summer breeding period and Australia for wintering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey-tailed tattler</span> Species of bird

The grey-tailed tattler, also known as the Siberian tattler or Polynesian tattler, is a small shorebird in the genus Tringa. The English name for the tattlers refers to their noisy call. The genus name Tringa is the Neo-Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek trungas, a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific brevipes is from Latin brevis, "short", and pes, "foot".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nordmann's greenshank</span> Species of bird

Nordmann's greenshank or the spotted greenshank, is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae, the typical waders.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Tringa stagnatilis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22693216A86691256. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22693216A86691256.en . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp.  364, 390. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  3. Pereira, Sérgio Luiz; Baker, Alan J. (2005). "Multiple Gene Evidence for Parallel Evolution and Retention of Ancestral Morphological States in the Shanks (Charadriiformes: Scolopacidae)". Condor . 107 (3): 514–526. doi: 10.1650/0010-5422(2005)107[0514:MGEFPE]2.0.CO;2 . S2CID   86221767.
  4. "Marsh Sandpiper". Oiseaux-birds.com. Retrieved 2011-10-19.
  5. Morden, Paul (3 May 2022). "Birders flock to Thedford sewage lagoons for rare shorebird sighting". The Sarnia Observer. Retrieved 6 May 2022.