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{{Short description|Family of birds}}
{{About|the bird}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Sandpipers
| fossil_range = [[Early Oligocene]] to recent
| image = Calidris-alpina-001 edit.jpg
| image_caption = [[Dunlin]] (''Calidris alpina'')
| taxon = Scolopacidae
| authority = [[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Rafinesque]], 1815
| type_genus = ''[[Scolopax]]''
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision = * ''[[Bartramia (bird)|Bartramia]]''
* ''[[Numenius (bird)|Numenius]]''
* ''[[Limosa]]''
* ''[[Arenaria (bird)|Arenaria]]''
* ''[[Prosobonia]]''
* ''[[Calidris]]''
* ''[[Limnodromus]]''
* ''[[Scolopax]]''
* ''[[Coenocorypha]]''
* ''[[Lymnocryptes]]''
* ''[[Gallinago]]''
* ''[[Terek sandpiper|Xenus]]''
* ''[[Phalaropus]]''
* ''[[Actitis]]''
* ''[[Tringa]]''
}}

'''Sandpipers''' are a large family, '''Scolopacidae''', of [[wader]]s. They include many species called sandpipers, as well as those called by names such as [[curlew]] and [[snipe]]. The majority of these species eat small [[invertebrate]]s picked out of the mud or soil. Different lengths of [[beak|bills]] enable different species to feed in the same [[habitat]], particularly on the [[coast]], without direct competition for food.

Sandpipers have long bodies and legs, and narrow wings. Most species have a narrow bill, but otherwise the form and length are quite variable. They are small to medium-sized birds, measuring {{convert|12|to(-)|66|cm|in|abbr=on}} 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.<ref name=EoB>{{cite book|editor=Forshaw, Joseph|author= Harrison, Colin J.O.|year=1991|title=Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds|publisher= Merehurst Press|location=London|pages= 103–105|isbn= 1-85391-186-0}}</ref>

Most species nest in open areas, and defend their territories with aerial displays. The [[Bird nest|nest]] itself is a simple scrape in the ground, in which the bird typically lays three or four [[Bird egg|eggs]]. The young of most species are [[precocial]].<ref name=EoB/>

[[File:Sandpiper nest with four eggs.jpg|thumb|Sandpiper nest with four eggs]]

==Taxonomy==
The family Scolopacidae was introduced (as Scolopacea) by the French [[polymath]] [[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque]] in 1815.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Rafinesque | first=Constantine Samuel | author-link=Constantine Samuel Rafinesque | year=1815 | title=Analyse de la nature ou, Tableau de l'univers et des corps organisés | volume=1815 | publisher=Self-published | place=Palermo | language=fr | page=70 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48310148 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Bock | first=Walter J. | year=1994 | title=History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names | series=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History | volume= Number 222 | publisher=American Museum of Natural History | place=New York | pages=113, 252 | hdl=2246/830 }}</ref> The family contains 98 extant or recently extinct species divided into 15 [[genera]].<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=July 2021 | title=Sandpipers, snipes, coursers | work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/sandpipers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=18 November 2021 }}</ref> For more details, see the article [[List of sandpiper species]].
{{Cladogram
|caption=Phylogeny of the Scolopacidae based on a study by Rosemary Gibson and Allan Baker published in 2012. No specimens from the genera ''[[Prosobonia]]'' or ''[[Lymnocryptes]]'' were included. Though currently placed in ''Gallinago'', the [[imperial snipe]] (''Gallinago imperialis'') was found to be more closely related to snipe in the genus ''Coenocorypha''.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Gibson | first1=Rosemary | last2=Baker | first2=Allan | date=2012 | title=Multiple gene sequences resolve phylogenetic relationships in the shorebird suborder Scolopaci (Aves: Charadriiformes) | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=64 | issue=1 | pages=66–72 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2012.03.008| pmid=22491071 }}</ref>
|align=centre
|cladogram={{Clade| style=font-size:100%;line-height:80%;width:600px;
|label1=Scolopacidae
|1={{clade
|1={{clade
|1=''[[Bartramia (bird)|Bartramia]]'' – upland sandpiper
|2=''[[Curlew|Numenius]]'' – curlews (9 species)
}}
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Limosa]]'' – godwits (4 species)
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|1=''[[Arenaria (bird)|Arenaria]]'' – turnstones (2 species)
|2=''[[Calidris]]'' – sandpipers (24 species)
}}
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|1=''[[Limnodromus]]'' – dowitchers (3 species)
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Scolopax]]'' – woodcocks (8 species)
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Coenocorypha]]'' – austral snipes (3 extant and 6 extinct species)
|2=''[[Gallinago]]'' – snipes (18 species)
}}
}}
}}
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|1=''[[Terek sandpiper|Xenus]]'' – Terek sandpiper
|2=''[[Phalaropus]]'' – phalaropes (3 species)
}}
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Actitis]]'' – sandpipers (2 species)
|2=''[[Tringa]]'' – sandpipers, shanks, tattlers etc (13 species)
}}
}}
}}
}}
}}
}}
}}
}}

==Evolution==
The early [[fossil]] record is scant for a group that was probably present at the non-avian [[dinosaur]]'s extinction. ''"Totanus" teruelensis'' ([[Late Miocene]] of [[Los Mansuetos]] ([[Spain]]) is sometimes considered a scolopacid – maybe a shank – but may well be a [[laridae|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 [[evolution|evolved]] throughout the [[Oligocene]] to [[Miocene]] with the [[wader]]s 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, USA){{#tag:ref|A [[Anatomical terms of location#Proximal and distal|distal]] right [[tarsometatarsus]] of a bird roughly similar to a [[pectoral sandpiper]]. Probably [[calidrid]] or basal to them, somewhat reminiscent of [[turnstone]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|author-link=Alexander Wetmore|last=Wetmore|first=Alexander|year=1937|title= The Eared Grebe and other Birds from the Pliocene of Kansas|journal=[[Condor (journal)|Condor]]|volume=39|issue=1|page= 40|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v039n01/p0040-p0040.pdf|doi=10.2307/1363487|jstor=1363487}}</ref>|group="note"}}

==Description==
[[File:Least Sandpiper Don Edwards WR 1.jpg|thumb|The [[least sandpiper]] is the smallest species of sandpiper]]
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 {{convert|18|g|lb|abbr=off}} and {{convert|11|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length, to the [[Far Eastern curlew]], at up to {{convert|66|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length, and the [[Eurasian curlew]], at up to {{convert|1.3|kg|lb|abbr=on}}. Within species there is considerable variation in patterns of [[sexual dimorphism]]. Males are larger than females in [[Ruff (bird)|ruff]]s and several sandpipers, but are smaller than females in the [[Calidrid#Genera and species|knots]], [[curlew]]s, [[phalarope]]s and [[godwit]]s. The sexes are similarly sized in the [[snipe]]s, [[woodcock]] and tringine sandpipers. Compared to the other large family of wading birds, the [[plover]]s ([[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).<ref name = "HBW"/>

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 [[beak|bills]]. These receptors are housed in a slight horny swelling at the tip of the bill (except for the [[surfbird]] and the two [[turnstone]]s). 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.<ref name = "HBW">{{cite book | last1=Piersma | first1=Theunis | editor-first = Josep | editor-last = del Hoyo | editor2-first = Andrew | editor2-last = Elliott | editor3-last = Sargatal | editor3-first = Jordi | chapter= Family Scolopacidae (Snipes, Sandpipers and Phalaropes) | title = Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 3, Hoatzin to Auks | year = 1996 | pages=444–487 | place = Barcelona | publisher = Lynx Edicions | isbn =978-84-87334-20-7 | chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0003unse/page/444/mode/1up | chapter-url-access=registration }}</ref> 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 [[Cranial kinesis#Rhynchokinesis|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.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Estrella|first=Sora|author2=Masero, José A. |title=The use of distal rhynchokinesis by birds feeding in water|journal=Journal of Experimental Biology|year=2007|volume=210|pages=3757–3762|doi=10.1242/jeb.007690|issue=21|pmid=17951416|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Distribution, habitat, and movements==
[[File:Waders in flight Roebuck Bay.jpg|thumb|Sandpipers spending the non-breeding season in [[Roebuck Bay]], Western Australia]]
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]]).<ref name = "HBW"/>

==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.<ref name = "HBW"/> A few species of scolopacids are omnivorous to some extent, taking seeds and shoots as well as invertebrates.

== Breeding ==
Many sandpipers form monogamous pairs, but some sandpipers have female-only parental care, some male-only parental care, some sequential polyandry and other compete for the mate on the [[Lek_mating|lek]]. Sandpipers lay three or four eggs into the nest, which is usually a vague depression or scrape in the open ground, scarcely lined with soft vegetation.<ref name="HBW" /> In species where both parents incubate the eggs, females and males share their incubation duties in various ways both within and between species. In some pairs, parents exchange on the nest in the morning and in the evening so that their incubation rhythm follows a 24-hour day, in others each sex may sit on the nest continuously for up to 24 hours before it is exchanged by its partner.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bulla|first1=Martin|last2=Valcu|first2=Mihai|last3=Dokter|first3=Adriaan M.|last4=Dondua|first4=Alexei G.|last5=Kosztolányi|first5=András|last6=Rutten|first6=Anne L.|last7=Helm|first7=Barbara|last8=Sandercock|first8=Brett K.|last9=Casler|first9=Bruce|title=Unexpected diversity in socially synchronized rhythms of shorebirds|journal=Nature|volume=540|issue=7631|pages=109–113|doi=10.1038/nature20563|pmid=27880762|year=2016|bibcode=2016Natur.540..109B|s2cid=4390453|url=http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/87/296887.pdf}}</ref> In species where only a single parent incubates the eggs, during the night the parent sits on the eggs nearly continuously and then during the warmest part of a day leaves the nest for short feeding bouts.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Løfaldli|first=Lars|date=1985-01-01|title=Incubation Rhythm in the Great Snipe Gallinago media|journal=Holarctic Ecology|volume=8|issue=2|pages=107–112|doi=10.1111/j.1600-0587.1985.tb01160.x|jstor=3682650}}</ref> Chicks hatch after about three weeks of incubation and are able to walk and forage within a few hours of hatching. A single parent or both parents guide and brood the chicks.<ref name="HBW" />

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Bristle-thighed Curlew and 2 Ruddy Turnstones.jpg|[[Bristle-thighed curlew]] (''Numenius tahitiensis'', right) and [[ruddy turnstone]]s (''Arenaria interpres'')
Image:Gallinago gallinago 6 (Marek Szczepanek).jpg|[[Common snipe]] (''Gallinago gallinago'')
Image:Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia) at Bharatpur I IMG 5523.jpg|[[Greenshank]] (''Tringa nebularia'')
Image:Kampfläufer Gefieder putzend.jpg|[[Preening (bird)|Preening]] male [[Ruff (bird)|ruff]] (''Philomachus pugnax'')
</gallery>

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|group="note"}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Scolopacidae}}
* [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/sandpipers-snipes-phalaropes-scolopacidae Sandpiper media] on the Internet Bird Collection
* [http://www.allaboutbirds.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1077&q=sandpiper Cornell Lab of Ornithology sandpiper search results]
* [http://RedKnot.org RedKnot.org] links to shorebird recovery sites, movies, events & other information on red knot rufa and horseshoe crabs.

{{Scolopacidae}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q26626}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Sandpipers| ]]
[[Category:Extant Rupelian first appearances]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque]]

Sandpiper - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article