The adult is 18–20 cm (7.1–7.9 in) long with a 32–35 cm (13–14 in) wingspan. It has greyish-brown upperparts, white underparts, short dark-yellowish legs and feet, and a bill with a pale base and dark tip. In winter plumage, they are duller and have more conspicuous barring on the wings, though this is still only visible at close range. Juveniles are more heavily barred above and have buff edges to the wing feathers.[6]
This species is very similar to the slightly largerspotted sandpiper (A. macularia) in non-breeding plumage. But its darker legs and feet and the crisper wing pattern (visible in flight) tend to give it away, and of course they are only rarely found in the same location.[6]
The common sandpiper breeds across most oftemperate andsubtropical Europe and Asia, andmigrates to Africa, southern Asia andAustralia in winter. The eastern edge of its migration route passes byPalau inMicronesia, where hundreds of birds may gather for a stop-over. They depart the Palau region for their breeding quarters around the last week of April to the first week of May.[6][7]
The Common Sandpiper is usually encountered alone, occasionally in small groups, although larger flocks are sometimes formed around migration[8] or at breeding season roosts. It seldom joins multispecies flocks.[8] This species has a distinctive stiff-winged flight, low over the water.
The common sandpiper forages by sight on the ground or in shallow water, picking up small food items such asinsects,crustaceans and otherinvertebrates; it may even catch insects in flight.
In the Nukumanu language of theNukumanu Islands (Papua New Guinea), this species is usually calledtiritavoi. Another Nukumanu name for it,matakakoni, exists, but this is considered somewhattaboo and not used when children and women are around. The reason for this is thatmatakakoni means "bird that walks a little, then copulates", in reference to the pumping tail and thrusting head movements theActitis species characteristically perform during foraging.[6][11]
^Linnaeus, C. (1758)."Tringa hypoleucos".Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. Volume 1 (Tenth ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 149.
^Jobling, J.A. (2010).The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 31,199.ISBN978-1-4081-2501-4.
^abcdeHayman, P.; Marchant, J.; Prater, T. (1986).Shorebirds: an Identification Guide to the Waders of the World. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.ISBN0-395-60237-8.
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