Guide to North American Birds
Family Sandpipers
The name 'Common Sandpiper' is appropriate only in the Old World; in North America this is a rare bird, occurring in small numbers in western Alaska during migration. This is the Eurasian counterpart to our Spotted Sandpiper, with a similar teetering action as it walks along the edges of streams and ponds.

Photo Gallery

Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
Learn more about these drawings.

Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds

Download Our Bird Guide App

See a fully interactive migration map for over 450 bird species on the Bird Migration Explorer.

Learn more

Songs and Calls

A high-pitched, piping twee-wee-wee.
Audio © Lang Elliott, Bob McGuire, Kevin Colver, Martyn Stewart and others.
Learn more about this sound collection.