Green Sandpiper
Tringa ochropus
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderCharadriiformes (Shorebirds and Allies)
- FamilyScolopacidae (Sandpipers and Allies)
- GenusTringa (Shanks, Tattlers, and Allies)
- SpeciesTringa ochropus (Green Sandpiper)
About the Green Sandpiper
The green sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) is a small wader (shorebird) of the Old World. The green sandpiper represents an ancient lineage of the genus Tringa; its only close living relative is the solitary sandpiper (T. solitaria). They both have brown wings with little light dots and a delicate but contrasting neck and chest pattern. In addition, both species nest in trees, unlike most other scolopacids.
Given its basal position in Tringa, it is fairly unsurprising that suspected cases of hybridisation between this species and the common sandpiper (A. hypoleucos) of the sister genus Actitis have been reported. The green sandpiper was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the current binomial name Tringa ochropus. The genus name Tringa is the Neo-Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek trungas, a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific ochropus is from Ancient Greek okhros, "ochre", and pous, "foot". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
This species is a somewhat... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Green Sandpiper in Hwange National Park
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Hwange National Park
Wood Sandpiper
Tringa glareola
Common Greenshank
Tringa nebularia
Marsh Sandpiper
Tringa stagnatilis
Common Sandpiper
Actitis hypoleucos
Ruff
Calidris pugnax
Little Stint
Calidris minuta
Curlew Sandpiper
Calidris ferruginea
Blacksmith Lapwing
Vanellus armatus
Black-winged Stilt
Himantopus himantopus
Crowned Lapwing
Vanellus coronatus
African Jacana
Actophilornis africanus
Water Thick-knee
Burhinus vermiculatus
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.