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Wood Sandpiper

 

Tringa glareola

IUCN status: Least concern

Flyway population 130 000 (2022 estimate)

 

Wood Sandpiper. Mackay. Robert Bush.

Identification

Medium-sized wader that has grey upperparts that are spotted.

Plumage

Non-breeding:  The top of the head is brown-grey spotted with white.  The neck is grey streaked with white.  The mantle, scapulars and wing coverts are dark grey notched with white.  The back is grey.  The rump, uppertail coverts and tail are white, the tail having fine black barring. the underparts are white, the breast being washed with grey the sides streaked dark grey.  Bill is short, straight and black with an olive base.  The legs are olive-yellow.
Breeding:  Similar to the non-breeding plumage, with more sopping on the upperparts and more streaking on the head and breast.
Juvenile:  Similar to the non-breeding plumage but with browner tinge to the upperparts.

 

Confusing Species

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper:  Similar in size but more markings on the upperparts and browner colouration.
Common Sandpiper:  This species is smaller, with shorter legs and plainer upperparts.

Distribution

Breeds in boreal forests and marshes from Europe to Siberia. Migrates to Africa, southern Asia and Australia. In northern Australia, can be found on inland freshwater wetlands, either singly or in small flocks.

 

Monthly reports of Wood Sandpiper in Queensland

Monthly sightings

Best QWSG sites in Queensland to see Wood Sandpiper

Location Times reported Years reported
Bundaberg Port Swamp 9 2009-2012
Garnett’s Lagoon-Susan River 31 2003-2017
Nathan Rd Redcliffe 5 2015
Tin Can Bay sewerage works 2 1999, 2001
Tedlands Wetland 2 2008, 2012
Kinka Wetlands 1 2004
Hermanns Rd Burnett R. 1 2006
Ewan Maddock Dam Caloundra1 1 1996
Cleveland Bay North, Townsville 1 1995

Conservation 

EPBC listing: Marine, Migratory – not listed as threatened

 

References

  1. BirdLife Australia (2023). Wood Sandpiper. [Text before updates sourced from: Marchant, S. et al (eds) 1990-2006 Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds.Volume 1 to 7.] Birdlife Australia. Birdlife Australia. Source: https://hanzab.birdlife.org.au/species/wood-sandpiper/ Accessed: April 30, 2026 Time Zone: +10:00
  2. van Gils, J., P. Wiersma, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.woosan.01
  3. eBird. 2021. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance [web application]. eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Available:  http://www.ebird.org (Accessed: Date 12/4/2026)
  4. Rogers A, Fuller RA & Amano T (2023) Australia’s migratory shorebirds: Trends and prospects. Report to the National Environmental Science Program. University of Queensland, Brisbane.
  5. Geering, Andrew, Lindsay Agnew, and Sandra Harding, eds. Shorebirds of Australia. Csiro Publishing, 2007.
  6. Driessen, J., Kidd, L. R., Weller, D. R., Purnell, C., Maguire, G., Jaensch, R., and LeClair, S. M. (2025). Australian National Directory of Important Migratory Shorebird Habitat. Report for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. BirdLife Australia, Melbourne.
  7. van Swinderen, L., Hansen, B.D., Fuller, R.A., Watkins, D., Rogers, D.I., Clemens, R.S., Newman, M., Woehler, E.J., Weller, D.R. and LeClair, S. (2025). Revision of the East Asian – Australasian Flyway Population Estimates for 37 listed Migratory Shorebird Species. Report for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. BirdLife Australia, Melbourne.
  8. https://sproggies63.github.io/birding_apps/