# Common sandpiper (*Actitis hypoleucos*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-sandpiper  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The common sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) is a small migratory bird in the family Scolopacidae and the order Charadriiformes. Adults weigh 48 g, with values from 47.25 to 52.3 g reported, and the wingspan is 27.3 cm. It is a carnivore classed as an aquatic predator, with a terrestrial foraging lifestyle in wetland habitat. It lays 4 eggs per clutch, one clutch per year, with an incubation period of 21.5 days, and it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 47.3 g – 52.3 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 27.3 cm |
| Lifespan | 14.5 years |
| Diet | Aquatic predator |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | wetland |
| Egg incubation | 21.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 4 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | 1 country |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Charadriiformes
- family: Scolopacidae
- genus: Actitis
- species: *Actitis hypoleucos* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Actites hypoleucos*, *Totanus guinetta*, *Totanus hypoleucos*, *Tringa hypoleucos*, *Tringa hypoleucos hypoleucos*, *Tringa hypoleucos hypoleucos*, *Tringa hypoleucos hypoleucos*, *Trynga ralloides*

## Countries on record

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

Australia

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the common sandpiper?

The common sandpiper is a small migratory bird in the family Scolopacidae, order Charadriiformes.

### How much does a common sandpiper weigh?

An adult common sandpiper weighs 48 g, with reported values from 47.25 to 52.3 g. Its wingspan is 27.3 cm.

### What does the common sandpiper eat?

The common sandpiper is a carnivore classed as an aquatic predator.

### Is the common sandpiper endangered?

No. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How many eggs does the common sandpiper lay?

It lays 4 eggs per clutch and has 1 clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 21.5 days.

### How long does the common sandpiper live?

The common sandpiper has a lifespan of 14.5 years, and it reaches sexual maturity at 1 year.

### Which countries is the common sandpiper recorded in?

Checklists record the common sandpiper in Australia. Its geographic range covers 25,850,000 km².

### Who named the common sandpiper?

The common sandpiper was named Actitis hypoleucos by (Linnaeus, 1758).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Common sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-sandpiper