A small wader often seen walking along the water’s edge and bobbing its tail.
It is brown above and white below, with a noticeable white stripe on the wing in flight.
Common Sandpipers breeding on Poland’s Vistula River place nests high on riverbanks that flood regularly. About 70% of pairs nested at elevations where their nests had an 80% chance of avoiding inundation. Nest height was linked with the river’s periodic high water. The study covered a semi-natural riverbed.
Flooding reduced breeding success by as much as 92% at the lowest nest sites. Birds kept choosing higher ground in the second half of the season, when flood risk was lower. In the 43 nests found in 2014 and 2015, egg laying began between 25 April and 18 June, and some pairs laid again after losing a first nest. Nest height influenced flood risk more than laying date.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Along the Vistula, nests on higher riverbank ground are less exposed to inundation, while low nests have lower breeding success. Natural riverbanks with different elevations provide Common Sandpipers with safer nest sites.