The Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) is the small wader of streams and lake shores, instantly recognisable by its constant tail-bobbing and its characteristic low, fluttering flight over the water. It is a small, short-legged wader measuring 18–21 cm in length, with a wingspan of 32–35 cm and a weight of 40–60 grams. The upperside is evenly olive-brown with fine dark markings and the underside pure white; the best mark is a white wedge that pushes up between the brownish-grey breast side and the wing bend, clearly visible on a perched bird, while the legs are short and yellow-brown. In flight it shows a clear white wingband and moves characteristically low and stiff-winged over the water, alternating rapid, fluttering wingbeats with short glides, and both perched and foraging birds bob the tail and rear body almost constantly.
The most common call is a clear, bright, falling "swiit-swiit-swiit," given as the bird takes off and flies along the shore — often heard before it is spotted — while the song is a rhythmic, trilling series of the same notes repeated faster, resembling "swee-swee-swee-witi-witi," best heard on May and June mornings from a stone or low branch at the water's edge. The Common Sandpiper breeds throughout Sweden, from lowland lakes and watercourses up to mountain streams, with a population of 200,000–400,000 pairs, though numbers have declined and the species is red-listed as Near Threatened. It is tied to the shores of lakes, rivers and streams, favouring stretches with stone and gravel, and is a long-distance migrant, arriving in May and leaving already in August for Africa. The nest is placed on the ground near water, well hidden in shoreline vegetation, where the female lays a usual clutch of four eggs incubated by both parents; the precocial chicks leave soon after hatching and forage independently, feeding on insects, larvae, small crustaceans and spiders picked from the shore zone and among stones.
Read about this species in Swedish →