Common Sandpiper ( Actitis hypoleucos, family: Scolopacidae)

common sand piper kruger national park birds The Common Sandpiper (Latin name Actitis hypoleucos) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 264 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 360 also a picture of the Common Sandpiper on page 369. The Common Sandpiper belongs to the family of birds classified as Scolopacidae.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Common Sandpiper is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common summer visitor

In terms of distribution of the Common Sandpiper in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Common Sandpiper : see above distribution map.

The Common Sandpiper.

Kruger Park Common SandpiperIdentification assistance for this avian species ...

The Common Sandpiper is a smallish bird but somewhat larger than a house sparrow. The height of the Common Sandpiper is about 21 cms and its weight is about 50 gms

The male and female Common Sandpiper have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is olive, grey.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is white.
  • Back is black.
  • Legs are grey.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Common Sandpiper feeds on the ground mainly

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Common Sandpiper takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).

The nesting habit of Common Sandpiper is extra limital

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Common Sandpiper are: wetlands and riverine areas

You can see Common Sandpiper in flocks. The bird will often also be seen singly.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Uthuthula

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Gewone Ruiter

German ... Fluuferlufer

Portuguese ... Maarico-das-rochas

French ... Chevalier guignette

Dutch ... Oeverloper

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 264

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za