Wood Sandpiper
Tringa glareola
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderCharadriiformes (Shorebirds and Allies)
- FamilyScolopacidae (Sandpipers and Allies)
- GenusTringa (Shanks, Tattlers, and Allies)
- SpeciesTringa glareola (Wood Sandpiper)
About the Wood Sandpiper
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.
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. Linnaeus cited his own Fauna Svecica that had been published in 1746. He specified the type locality as Europe but it is now restricted to Sweden. The species is considered to be monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. 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".
The wood sandpiper resembles a longer-legged, more delicate form of the aforementioned green sandpiper (T. ochropus), or a solitary sandpiper... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Wood Sandpiper in Chobe National Park
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Common Greenshank
Tringa nebularia
Marsh Sandpiper
Tringa stagnatilis
Green Sandpiper
Tringa ochropus
Common Sandpiper
Actitis hypoleucos
Ruff
Calidris pugnax
African Snipe
Gallinago nigripennis
Sanderling
Calidris alba
Red Phalarope
Phalaropus fulicarius
Little Stint
Calidris minuta
Curlew Sandpiper
Calidris ferruginea
Great Snipe
Gallinago media
Ruddy Turnstone
Arenaria interpres
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Wood Sandpiper in Chobe National Park?
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Wood Sandpiper sighting in Chobe National Park, based on 351 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Wood Sandpiper in Chobe National Park?
December has the highest sighting rate for Wood Sandpiper in Chobe National Park in our monthly data.