Scolopacidae is a large family of shorebirds, or waders, which mainly includes many species known as sandpipers, but also others such as woodcocks, curlews, and snipes. Most of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. There is no evidence that different lengths of bills enable multiple species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food. On sandy beaches, species with different bill lengths feed on the only abundant invertebrate, such as mole crabs Emerita.
Sandpipers have long bodies and legs, and narrow wings. Most species have a narrow bill, but the form and length are variable. They are small to medium-sized birds, measuring in length. The bills are sensitive, allowing the birds to feel the mud and sand as they probe for food. They generally have dull plumage, with cryptic brown, grey, or streaked patterns, although some display brighter colours during the breeding season.
Most species nest in open areas and defend their territories with aerial displays. The nest itself is a simple scrape in the ground, in which the bird typically lays three or four eggs. The young of most species are precocial.
Taxonomy The family Scolopacidae was introduced (as Scolopacea) by the French polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815. The family contains 98 extant or recently extinct species divided into 15 genera. For more details, see the article List of sandpiper species.
The following genus-level cladogram of the Scolopacidae is based on a study by David Černý and Rossy Natale that was published in 2022.
ImageGenusLiving and recently extinct species Bartramia Upland sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda Numenius Bristle-thighed curlew, Numenius tahitiensis Eurasian whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus Hudsonian whimbrel, Numenius hudsonicus Little curlew, Numenius minutus †? Eskimo curlew, Numenius borealis (last seen in 1987) Long-billed curlew, Numenius americanus Far Eastern curlew, Numenius madagascariensis † Slender-billed curlew, Numenius tenuirostris (last seen in 1995) Eurasian curlew, Numenius arquata Limosa Bar-tailed godwit, Limosa lapponica Black-tailed godwit, Limosa limosa Hudsonian godwit, Limosa haemastica Marbled godwit, Limosa fedoa Limnodromus Asian dowitcher, Limnodromus semipalmatus Long-billed dowitcher, Limnodromus scolopaceus Short-billed dowitcher, Limnodromus griseus Lymnocryptes Jack snipe, Lymnocryptes minimus Scolopax American woodcock, Scolopax minor (large North American range) Eurasian woodcock, Scolopax rusticola (large Eurasian range) Amami woodcock, Scolopax mira (endemic to the Amami Islands in Japan) Bukidnon woodcock, Scolopax bukidnonensis (endemic to Luzon and Mindanao in the Philippines) Javan woodcock, Scolopax saturata (endemic to Sumatra and Java in Indonesia) New Guinea woodcock, Scolopax rosenbergii (endemic to New Guinea) Sulawesi woodcock, Scolopax celebensis (endemic to Sulawesi in Indonesia) Moluccan woodcock, Scolopax rochussenii (endemic to the Maluku Islands in Indonesia) Coenocorypha † North Island snipe, Coenocorypha barrierensis Oliver, 1955 – also known as the Little Barrier Snipe † South Island snipe, Coenocorypha iredalei Rothschild, 1921 – also known as the Stewart Island Snipe Chatham snipe, Coenocorypha pusilla (Buller, 1869) – Chatham Islands Snares snipe, Coenocorypha huegeli (Tristram, 1893) – Snares Islands Subantarctic snipe, Coenocorypha aucklandica (G. R. Gray, 1845) Auckland snipe, C. a. aucklandica (G. R. Gray, 1845) – Auckland Islands Antipodes snipe, C. a. meinertzhagenae Rothschild, 1927 – Antipodes Islands Campbell snipe, C. a. perseverance Miskelly & Baker, 2010 – Campbell Island † Forbes's snipe, Coenocorypha chathamica (Forbes, 1893) – Chatham Islands † Viti Levu snipe, Coenocorypha miratropica Worthy, 2003 – Fiji † New Caledonian snipe, Coenocorypha neocaledonica Worthy et al., 2013 – New Caledonia † Norfolk snipe, Coenocorypha sp. – Norfolk Island Gallinago Imperial snipe, Gallinago imperialis Jameson's snipe, Gallinago jamesoni Fuegian snipe, Gallinago stricklandii Solitary snipe, Gallinago solitaria Wood snipe, Gallinago nemoricola Great snipe, Gallinago media Swinhoe's snipe, Gallinago megala Pin-tailed snipe, Gallinago stenura Latham's snipe, Gallinago hardwickii African snipe, Gallinago nigripennis Common snipe, Gallinago gallinago Wilson's snipe, Gallinago delicata Giant snipe, Gallinago undulata Noble snipe, Gallinago nobilis Puna snipe, Gallinago andina Madagascar snipe, Gallinago macrodactyla Pantanal snipe, Gallinago paraguaiae Magellanic snipe, Gallinago magellanica Phalaropus Wilson's phalarope, Phalaropus tricolor Red phalarope, Phalaropus fulicarius Red-necked phalarope, Phalaropus lobatus Xenus Terek sandpiper, Xenus cinereus Actitis Common sandpiper, Actitis hypoleucos (of Eurasia) Spotted sandpiper, Actitis macularius (of North America) Tringa Green sandpiper, Tringa ochropus Solitary sandpiper, Tringa solitaria Grey-tailed tattler, Tringa brevipes (formerly Heteroscelus brevipes) Wandering tattler, Tringa incana (formerly Heteroscelus incanus) Marsh sandpiper, Tringa stagnatilis Wood sandpiper, Tringa glareola Common redshank, Tringa totanus Lesser yellowlegs, Tringa flavipes Nordmann's greenshank, Tringa guttifer Willet, Tringa semipalmata (formerly Catoptrophorus semipalmatus) Spotted redshank, Tringa erythropus Common greenshank, Tringa nebularia Greater yellowlegs, Tringa melanoleuca Prosobonia † Kiritimati sandpiper, Prosobonia cancellata † Tahiti sandpiper, Prosobonia leucoptera † Moorea sandpiper, Prosobonia ellisi Tuamotu sandpiper, Prosobonia parvirostris Arenaria Ruddy turnstone, Arenaria interpres Black turnstone, Arenaria melanocephala Calidris Great knot, Calidris tenuirostris Red knot, Calidris canutus Surfbird, Calidris virgata Ruff, Calidris pugnax Broad-billed sandpiper, Calidris falcinellus Sharp-tailed sandpiper, Calidris acuminata Stilt sandpiper, Calidris himantopus Curlew sandpiper, Calidris ferruginea Temminck's stint, Calidris temminckii Long-toed stint, Calidris subminuta Red-necked stint, Calidris ruficollis Spoon-billed sandpiper, Calidris pygmaea Buff-breasted sandpiper, Calidris subruficollis Sanderling, Calidris alba Dunlin, Calidris alpina Purple sandpiper, Calidris maritima Rock sandpiper, Calidris ptilocnemis Baird's sandpiper, Calidris bairdii Little stint, Calidris minuta Least sandpiper, Calidris minutilla White-rumped sandpiper, Calidris fuscicollis Pectoral sandpiper, Calidris melanotos Western sandpiper, Calidris mauri Semipalmated sandpiper, Calidris pusilla
Evolution The early fossil record is scant for a group that was probably present at the non-avian dinosaurs' extinction. "Totanus" teruelensis (Late Miocene of Los Mansuetos (Spain) is sometimes considered a scolopacid – maybe a shank – but may well be a larid; little is known of it.
Paractitis has been named from the Early Oligocene of Saskatchewan (Canada), while Mirolia is known from the Middle Miocene at Deiningen in the Nördlinger Ries (Germany). Most living genera would seem to have evolved throughout the Oligocene to Miocene with the waders perhaps a bit later; see the genus accounts for the fossil record.
In addition there are some indeterminable remains that might belong to extant genera or their extinct relatives: Scolopacidae gen. et sp. indet. (Middle Miocene of Františkovy Lázně, Czech Republic – Late Miocene of Kohfidisch, Austria) Scolopacidae gen. et sp. indet. (Edson Early Pliocene of Sherman County, Kansas, United States)
Description
The sandpipers exhibit considerable range in size and appearance, the wide range of body forms reflecting a wide range of ecological niches. Sandpipers range in size from the least sandpiper, at as little as and in length, to the Far Eastern curlew, at up to in length, and the Eurasian curlew, at up to . Within species there is considerable variation in patterns of sexual dimorphism. Males are larger than females in ruffs and several sandpipers, but are smaller than females in the knots, curlews, phalaropes and godwits. The sexes are similarly sized in the snipes, woodcock and tringine sandpipers. Compared to the other large family of wading birds, the plovers (Charadriidae), they tend to have smaller eyes, more slender heads, and longer thinner bills. Some are quite long-legged, and most species have three forward pointing toes with a smaller hind toe (the exception is the sanderling, which lacks a hind toe).
Sandpipers are more geared towards tactile foraging methods than the plovers, which favour more visual foraging methods, and this is reflected in the high density of tactile receptors in the tips of their bills. These receptors are housed in a slight horny swelling at the tip of the bill (except for the surfbird and the two turnstones). Bill shape is highly variable within the family, reflecting differences in feeding ecology. Bill length relative to head length varies from three times the length of the head in the long-billed curlew to just under half the head length in the Tuamotu sandpiper. Bills may be straight, slightly upcurled or strongly downcurved. Like all birds, the bills of sandpipers are capable of cranial kinesis, literally being able to move the bones of the skull (other than the obvious movement of the lower jaw) and specifically bending the upper jaw without opening the entire jaw, an act known as rhynchokinesis. It has been hypothesized this helps when probing by allowing the bill to be partly opened with less force and improving manipulation of prey items in the substrate. Rhynchokinesis is also used by sandpipers feeding on prey in water to catch and manipulate prey.
Distribution, habitat, and movements
The sandpipers have a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring across most of the world's land surfaces except for Antarctica and the driest deserts. A majority of the family breed at moderate to high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, in fact accounting for the most northerly breeding birds in the world. Only a few species breed in tropical regions, ten of which are snipes and woodcocks and the remaining species being the unusual Tuamotu sandpiper, which breeds in French Polynesia (although prior to the arrival of humans in the Pacific there were several other closely related species of Polynesian sandpiper).
Diet and feeding There are broadly four feeding styles employed by the sandpipers, although many species are flexible and may use more than one style. The first is pecking with occasional probing, usually done by species in drier habitats that do not have soft soils or mud. The second, and most frequent, method employed is probing soft soils, muds and sands for prey. The third, used by Tringa shanks, involves running in shallow water with the bill under the water chasing fish, a method that uses sight as well as tactile senses. The final method, employed by the phalaropes and some Calidris sandpipers, involves pecking at the water for small prey. A few species of scolopacids are omnivorous to some extent, taking seeds and shoots as well as invertebrates.
Breeding