Common Sandpiper
Photo: JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/) · CC BY 3.0

Sandpipers and Allies

Common Sandpiper

Actitis hypoleucos

LCLeast Concern
Family
Sandpipers and Allies (Scolopacidae)
Order
Charadriiformes

Overview

The common sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) is a small Palearctic wader. This bird and its American sister species, the spotted sandpiper (A. macularia), 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 member of the closely related genus Tringa.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Breeds inland waterbody margins from British Isles and Scandinavia eastward to Chukotskiy Peninsula (northeastern Russia), in south from Iberian Peninsula across Caucasus to Kashmir (northwestern Himalayas), northeastern China, and Japan; winters from southwestern Europe and Africa eastward to Melanesia and Micronesia.

Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.