Little Wood Sandpiper
Tringa glareola
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Little wood sandpipers breed in the temperate boreal to subarctic tundra and taiga zone of northern Europe, eastern Siberia and Alaska, but only very rarely in Germany. As waders, they are bound to wetlands, such as bogs and swamps with few trees. They feed on insects, tadpoles, crustaceans and molluscs. During breeding, wood Sandpipers are territorial and mark their territory with a singing flight. The clutch, laid in a ground nest or, more rarely, a tree nest, consists of four conical, spindle-shaped eggs. Wood sandpipers, as migratory guests, are regularly observed in inland areas, on flooded meadows and shallow lakes and ponds. They are about the size of a starling, but have long, light green legs. The upperparts are brownish with white speckles, the neck and breast more light brown, the belly white. On the head, a white over-eye stripe can be clearly seen up to the nape of the neck. The bill is long and darkens towards the tip. Wood sandpipers are diurnal, but tend to migrate at night. Their wintering grounds are in equatorial Africa and partly in the southern Mediterranean.