Wood sandpiper

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Wood sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper Safari Park.jpg
Wood sandpiper in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park, Gazipur City, Bangladesh
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At Timbi Lake, Vadodara, Gujarat, India
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Genus: Tringa
Species:
T. glareola
Binomial name
Tringa glareola
Synonyms

Rhyacophilus glareola(Linnaeus, 1758)

Tringa glareola

The wood sandpiper (Tringa glareola) is a small wader belonging to the sandpiper family Scolopacidae. A Eurasian species, it is the smallest of the shanks, a genus of mid-sized, long-legged waders that largely inhabit freshwater and wetland environments, as opposed to the maritime or coastal habitats of other, similar species.

Contents

Taxonomy

The wood sandpiper was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the current binomial name Tringa glareola. [2] Linnaeus cited his own Fauna Svecica that had been published in 1746. [3] He specified the type locality as Europe but it is now restricted to Sweden. [4] The species is considered to be monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. [5] The genus name, Tringa , is the Neo-Latin name given to the green sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) in 1599 by Aldrovandus, based on the Ancient Greek trungas, a "thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing" wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific glareola is from the Latin glarea, meaning "gravel". [6]

Description

The wood sandpiper resembles a longer-legged, more delicate form of the aforementioned green sandpiper (T. ochropus), or a solitary sandpiper (T. solitaria), albeit with a shorter, finer bill, brown back and longer yellowish legs. The wood sandpiper differs from the green by having a smaller, less contrasting white rump-patch, while the solitary sandpiper has no rump-patch, at all. [7] However, the wood sandpiper is not closely related to these two species; its closest relative is the common redshank (T. totanus), with which it shares a sister relationship with the marsh sandpiper (T. stagnatilis). These three species are a group of smallish shanks with red or yellowish legs, displaying a breeding plumage of subdued, light-brown above (with some darker mottling), and a pattern of somewhat smaller, diffuse, brownish spots on the breast and neck. [7] [8]

Distribution and habitat

The wood sandpiper breeds in subarctic wetlands, from the Scottish Highlands in the west, east across Eurasia and the Palearctic. They will migrate to Africa, South Asia (particularly India) and Australia. Vagrant birds have been seen as far into the Pacific as the Hawaiian Islands. In Micronesia, it is a regular visitor to Palau and the Mariana Islands, where flocks of up to 32 birds have been reported; it is observed and recorded on Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, approximately once each decade. The wood sandpiper is also encountered in the Western Pacific region of East Asia and some Western Pacific islands between mid-October and mid-May. [7] [9] [10] [11] A slight westward-expansion saw the establishment of a small resident breeding population in Scotland, beginning in the 1950s. This species is usually found in and around freshwater habitats during migration and wintering.

Behaviour and ecology

Mature wood sandpipers moult all of their primary feathers between August and December, whilst juvenile birds shed a varying number of outer primaries between December and April, much closer to their departure from Africa. Immature birds are also much more flexible than older birds regarding the timing (and rate) of their moult and refueling. Adults and immatures which accumulate fuel loads of c.50% of their lean body mass can potentially cross distances of 2397–4490 km in one non-stop flight. [12]

Breeding

The wood sandpiper nests primarily on the ground, or will re-use an abandoned tree nest of another bird species, such as the fieldfare (Turdus pilaris). [7] Four pale-green eggs are laid between March and May. These are incubated by both sexes beginning with the last egg. They hatch after 22 to 23 days. They are initially cared for by both parents but the female normally departs after a few days. The young can feed themselves. The young fledge when aged around 30 days. [13]

Food and feeding

They forage for invertebrates by probing their bills in shallow water or into wet mud, such as lakeshores or riverbanks, and mainly eat aquatic insects, crustaceans, arthropods, various worms, and other small prey. [14]

Conservation status

The wood sandpiper is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. With an apparently stable, healthy global population, it is considered a Species of Least Concern, as per the IUCN. [1] [15]

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 in the genus Calidris. 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">Eurasian curlew</span> Species of bird

The Eurasian curlew or common curlew is a very large wader in the family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across temperate Europe and Asia. In Europe, this species is often referred to just as the "curlew", and in Scotland known as the "whaup" in Scots.

<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 genus Tringa.

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

The marsh sandpiper 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".

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

The red phalarope or grey phalarope is a small wader. This phalarope breeds in the Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia. It is migratory, and, unusually for a wader, migrates mainly on oceanic routes, wintering at sea on tropical oceans.

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

The collared pratincole, also known as the common pratincole or red-winged pratincole, is a wader in the pratincole family, Glareolidae. As with other pratincoles, it is native to the Old World.

<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">Pectoral sandpiper</span> Species of bird

The pectoral sandpiper is a small, migratory wader that breeds in North America and Asia, wintering in South America and Oceania. It eats small invertebrates. Its nest, a hole scraped in the ground and with a thick lining, is deep enough to protect its four eggs from the cool breezes of its breeding grounds. The pectoral sandpiper is 21 cm (8.3 in) long, with a wingspan of 46 cm (18 in).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tahiti sandpiper</span> Extinct species of sandpiper

The Tahiti Sandpiper or Tahitian Sandpiper is an extinct member of the large wader family Scolopacidae that was endemic to Tahiti in French Polynesia until its extinction sometime before 1819.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tattler (bird)</span> Genus of birds

The tattlers are the two very similar bird species in the shorebird genus Tringa. They formerly had their own genus, Heteroscelus. The old genus name means "different leg" in Greek, referring to the leg scales that differentiate the tattlers from their close relatives, the shanks.

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

The wandering tattler, is a medium-sized wading bird. It is similar in appearance to the closely related gray-tailed tattler, T. brevipes. The tattlers are unique among the species of Tringa for having unpatterned, greyish wings and backs, and a scaly breast pattern extending more or less onto the belly in breeding plumage, in which both also have a rather prominent supercilium.

<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. 1 2 BirdLife International (2016). "Tringa glareola". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22693247A86689640. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22693247A86689640.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 149.
  3. Linnaeus, Carl (1746). Fauna Svecica: sistens animalia Sveciæ regni: qvadrupedia, aves, amphibia, pisces, insecta, vermes, distributa per classes & ordines, genera & species. Cum differentiis specierum, synonymis autorum, nominibus incolarum, locis habitationum, descriptionibus insectorum (in Latin). Stockholmiae: Laurentii Salvii. p. 56, No. 152.
  4. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1934). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 267.
  5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (December 2023). "Sandpipers, snipes, coursers". IOC World Bird List Version 14.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  6. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp.  174, 390. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Hayman, Peter; Marchant, John; Prater, Tony (1986). Shorebirds: an Identification Guide to the Waders of the World. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN   0-395-60237-8.
  8. Pereira, S.L.; Baker, A.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.
  9. Wiles, Gary J.; Worthington, David J.; Beck, Robert E. Jr.; Pratt, H. Douglas; Aguon, Celestino F.; Pyle, Robert L. (2000). "Noteworthy bird records for Micronesia, with a summary of raptor sightings in the Mariana Islands, 1988–1999" (PDF). Micronesica. 32 (2): 257–284. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-04-23. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  10. VanderWerf, Eric A. (2006). "Observations on the birds of Kwajalein Atoll, including six new species records for the Marshall Islands" (PDF). Micronesica. 38 (2): 221–237. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  11. VanderWerf, Eric A.; Wiles, Gary J.; Marshall, Ann P.; Knecht, Melia (2006). "Observations of migrants and other birds in Palau, April–May 2005, including the first Micronesian record of a Richard's Pipit" (PDF). Micronesica. 39 (1): 11–29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  12. Remisiewicz, M.; Tree, A. J.; Underhill, L. G.; Burman, M. S. (2017). "Age-specific variation in relationship between moult and pre-migratory fuelling in Wood Sandpipers Tringa glareola in southern Africa". Ibis. 159 (1): 91–102. doi:10.1111/ibi.12436.
  13. Cramp 1983, p. 584.
  14. Cramp 1983, pp. 580–582.
  15. "Species factsheet: Tringa glareola". www.birdlife.org. BirdLife International. 2008.

Sources