Wood Sandpiper

If ever you are feeling drowsy while listening for nocturnal migrants on a late summer’s night, the bright, well-articulated pi-pe of a Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola should wake you up. In western Europe this is not a common bird, and likely to be traveling alone, but further east this is one of the waders you are likely to hear most often in May and from July to September.

Wood Sandpipers show only limited variation in their flight calls, which are the same by day or by night. Fortunately, the pi-pe call given by lone migrants, which can be regarded as their default flight call, is not difficult to identify.

In flocks, you may hear a quieter, lower-pitched call that can be much harder to identify, as it resembles the generic chatter of many other medium-sized wader species. Fortunately, there are usually one or two individuals in the flock also giving pi-pe calls, making the job of recognising the species much easier.

pi-pe call

• brief, high-pitched, descending series of short, clearly articulated whistles
• normally 2 whistles to a series; from 1 – 4 not unusual (d, g & f)
• each whistle shaped like an inverted capital letter J:
  • an arch is the most audible part (occasionally more pointed: c),
  • followed by a rapid descent to a lower-frequency ending, showing as a ‘hindleg’ in sonagrams
• frequency range 2.2 – 5.2 kHz (mean min 2.8 kHz, mean max 4.7 kHz; n = 45)
• first and subsequent whistles similar in length, although first is marginally longer
• single nocturnal migrants always use this call-type

Effects of recording quality

• In close range calls, vestiges of a second harmonic may appear (d).
• In more distant calls the final descending part of each whistle may appear shorter or disappear (g).

chatter calls

• very short whistles, shorter than in pi-pe call
• quieter than, and often interspersed between, pi-pe calls
• usually single calls, or loosely connected doubles (j & k)
• lower-pitched than pi-pe; range 2.4 – 4.5 kHz (mean min 3.3 kHz, mean max 4 kHz; n = 12)
• rather pointed shape; similar starting and ending frequency (ie, barely any ‘hindleg’)
• when doubled, both whistles have similar pitch (j & k)
• only recorded when there has been more than one individual

pi-pe

• Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos also has NFCs consisting of a descending series of whistles, but they are around 1 kHz higher, the delivery of the whistles is slower, and they flow more smoothly into one another. In sonagrams, the individual notes are less arched, and the ‘hindleg’ is much less prominent, only showing at close range.
• Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus has NFCs consisting of two or three rising whistles, usually of roughly equal length, but they are nearly 2 kHz lower, and the series usually rises in pitch slightly, rather than falling as in Wood Sandpiper.

chatter

• Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis has NFCs that are almost always given singly, not doubled: a flock of Marsh Sandpipers can sound confusingly similar to a flock of Wood Sandpipers giving chatter calls. However, Marsh averages nearly 1 kHz lower, and its calls have strong harmonics that cover a wider frequency range.

• anywhere: over towns, forests, mountains and offshore
• any time: both diurnal and nocturnal
• can be heard all night, especially middle and  second half