Fun Green Sandpiper Facts For Kids

These wave-fearing shorebirds can give you an insight into some interesting knowledge. The Green Sandpiper, with the scientific name Tringa ochropus, comes from the large family of medium-sized birds, Scolopacidae along with other waders of the Old World. These birds are quite popular in their range regions and have been given the conservation status of Least Concern.

The distribution of this species is seen across subarctic Russia and Europe, northern Mongolia, parts of China, tropical Africa, Kazakhstan, the Arabian Peninsula, India, and other regions of Asia. These birds prefer tropical or subtropical habitats among forests, wetlands, swamps, flooded grasslands, rivers, and lakes. This species mainly feeds on invertebrates, and their diet consists of insects, annelids, and small fish or crustaceans.

Migration of the breeding population to wintering grounds is a prominent characteristic of these species. This bird breeds between April to June and builds nests in trees of pine, boreal, or montane forests. It has a clutch size of two to four eggs and an incubation period of 21 days.

If you love reading about this species, take a look at our Spotted Sandpiper and Least Sandpiper pages.
 

What type of animal is a Green Sandpiper?

This is a bird species that belong to the Scolopacidae family like other waders and shorebirds such as the Stilt Sandpiper.

What class of animal does a Green Sandpiper belong to?

This bird belongs to class Aves under the order of Charadriiformes.

How many Green Sandpipers are there in the world?

According to the IUCN records, the Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) population range is a safe number i.e. between 1,200,000-3,600,000.

Where does a Green Sandpiper live?

The Green Sandpiper range is seen across habitats in Europe, the Palearctic region, India, tropical Africa, and Southeast Asia.

What is a Green Sandpiper's habitat?

These birds can be found in habitats subtropical and tropical montane forests, boreal forests, freshwater rivers, lakes and streams, marshes, flooded grasslands, and other wetlands.

Who do Green Sandpipers live with?

The Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) is solitary in nature but can be found in small groups as well.

How long does a Green Sandpiper live?

Although the lifespan of this species is not specified, sandpipers, in general, have a life expectancy of around 10 years.

How do they reproduce?

The Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) breeding season is between April to June, and this is common in most of their breeding range. These bird species are migratory and move to the Palearctic region and subarctic Europe to mate and nest. These birds are monogamous and quite territorial of their breeding range. They choose to nest in trees of boreal, pine, and montane forests. This species is also seen nesting in unused nests of passerine birds. During the breeding season, these birds lay two to four light sand-colored eggs with imprints darker patches. The incubation period lasts for about 21 days, and both parents take charge of incubating the eggs.

What is their conservation status?

With its population not in a vulnerable position across the world, the IUCN has declared the conservation status of Least Concern for the Green Sandpiper.

What do Green Sandpipers look like?

The Green Sandpiper identification is quite easy. These birds are among the medium-sized sandpipers with a wingspan of around 21.7-23.6 in (55-60 cm). This species has a white rump, and brownish-gray spotted back, head, and tail with gray-brown streaks on its upper flanks, fore-neck, and breast. The distribution of streaks on its breast fade into an off-white shade that runs along the bird's underparts. These birds also have brownish lore and a white, ringed supercilium. This species has long dark green-brown beaks and feet.

How cute are they?

This bird population looks just adorable with its tiny, spotted bodies.

How do they communicate?

There is no evidence of how these birds communicate, but their call sounds like a continuous three-note melody of whistles.

How big is a Green Sandpiper?

The Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) has a length of between 8.6 in (22 cm). It is about the same size as the Eastern Kingbird and about three times smaller than the North Island Brown Kiwi.

How fast can a Green Sandpiper move?

These birds as well as other breeds of sandpipers are commonly seen on shores and runs away from the waves to avoid getting wet. Apart from this, the actual speed at which this bird runs has not been recorded.

How much does a Green Sandpiper weigh?

The weight of full-grown, breeding species is between 1.7-4.2 oz (50-120 g).

What are the male and female names of the species?

Like most sandpipers, these birds do not have different names for the male and female.

What would you call a baby Green Sandpiper?

The baby of this species does not have a different name and can be called a chick like other birds.

What do they eat?

These carnivorous species have a mixed diet of aquatic and terrestrial insects, invertebrates, insect larvae, small fish, and crustaceans like shrimp, and annelids.

Are they rare?

The range of these birds in their natural habitat is common and is easily spotted.

Would they make a good pet?

No, this is a wild shorebird species, and their population is mainly found in tropical and subtropical forests and wetlands.

Did you know...

Southward migration is observed at the wintering grounds from late June to October.

These birds mostly use the abandoned nests of Fieldfares.

The distribution of this species is usually seen at an altitude of 1.5 mi (0-2,500 m).

This bird pokes through the sandy ground with its long bill to locate the prey.

This bird avoids saline water and chooses vegetation-rich freshwater wetlands.

Sandpipers show a color change in their plumage and become paler in the autumn when compared to spring.

Woodcocks and Snipes also belong to the family Scolopacidae.

Among artificial habitats, this species is also seen in rural gardens, cultivated lands, canals, pastureland, drains, flooded fields, and aquaculture ponds.

How did the Sandpiper get its name?

In ancient writings, Aristotle described a white rump, dark back bird species that looked like sandpipers and named them 'Trungas'. After referring to these observations, Carl Linnaeus derived and coined its scientific name, Tringa ochropus.

Green vs Solitary Sandpiper

This description of both these bird species has many similarities to one another. However, the former has a stockier, heavy-set form and a shorter neck. The Green Sandpiper is also darker and has a more uniform brown shade on its back. The Solitary Sandpiper is known to fly low above water in a flickering wing motion, whereas the other species fly quickly in flushed, zig-zag movements. The latter also shows white stripes on its wings, and the calls of both these birds are different.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these purple sandpiper facts and solitary sandpiper facts for kids.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable green sandpiper coloring pages.