- Tringa stagnatilis
Identification
22-26 cm length, 55-59 cm wingspan, 50-120 g weight.
Long, slender, black bill, long spindly yellowish-green legs, grey brown with white underparts slightly streaked brownish in breeding plumage, paler in winter with pure white underparts, and has a white wedge up its back (reminiscent of Common Greenshank). Wings uniform grey-brown, with no wingbar. Due to early moult, Marsh Sandpiper will often look considerably paler than other Tringa sandpipers in late summer. Feet project well beyond the tail in flight.
Similar species
Common Greenshank is the main confusion species, differing in its larger size, and stouter, slightly upcurved bill with a pale base. When dealing with vagrants, Lesser Yellowlegs also needs to be considered because of its similar structure, though differing in bright chrome-yellow legs and a smaller, square white rump, not a long wedge. At long range, winter plumage Marsh Sandpipers can look surprisingly similar to (particularly juvenile) Black-winged Stilts.
Distribution
Breeds in easternmost Europe to central Asia (locally in Poland and Belarus, widespread from eastern Ukraine east across Russia and northern Kazakhstan, and locally in Mongolia and northern China), migrating to winter in sub-saharan Africa (west to Senegal and south to South Africa), southern Asia and Australia. Vagrants occur west to Ireland in western Europe and east to Japan in Asia, and with a very few records in North America.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[2].
Habitat
Open grassy steppe and taiga wetlands.
Behaviour
These birds forage by probing in shallow water or on wet mud.
Diet
Diet includes insects, and similar small prey.
Vocalisation
References
- Collins Field Guide 5th Edition
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Marsh Sandpiper. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Marsh_Sandpiper
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
