Species group · Birds
Sandpipers
WAnimals has 3 species of sandpiper, all in the family Scolopacidae.
- 3 species
- 1 family
- 75 countries
- 69 parks
- Weight
- 20 g – 100 g
- Length
- 13 cm – 22 cm
- Lifespan
- 5 – 16 years
Ranges calculated from the entries that record the figure, not from all 3.
All 3 species of sandpipers on WAnimals
Each one has its own full entry. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.
Conservation status
No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.
See the global conservation statusWhere they live
Recorded in 75 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:
Where to see them
Did you know…
It is nicknamed the 'sewing machine' for the rapid bobbing of its head as it probes the mud.
From Dunlin
It forms winter flocks of tens of thousands that wheel in perfect unison in flight.
From Dunlin
One ringed bird reached a record 24-28.8 years.
From Dunlin
It is the only sandpiper without a hind toe, which is where its Spanish name comes from: it has only three toes, an adaptation to running on firm sand.
From Sanderling
It chases the backwash of each wave with astonishing precision, making use of the seconds in which the sand is saturated and the invertebrates are within reach near the surface.
From Sanderling
It winters on beaches across five continents: a single bird may travel more than ten thousand kilometres between the Siberian tundra and a South African or Chilean beach.
From Sanderling
In the Bay of Fundy it doubles its weight in two weeks feeding on a single tiny mud-dwelling crustacean, and on that fat it undertakes a non-stop flight of more than four thousand kilometres over the Atlantic to South America.
Its migrating flocks wheel in unison, flashing alternately their dark backs and pale bellies, a synchronised shimmer of tens of thousands of birds that disorientates peregrine falcons.