Actitis
Sandpiper
Actitis ( German: Sandpiper ) is a genus in the family of the Waders. It contains only two extant species, one of which is used in Palaearctic and the other in the Nearctic.
Appearance
An adult Sandpiper is up to 22 inches tall and reaches a wingspan up to 40 inches. It weighs 40 to 80 grams. The Spotted Sandpiper is slightly smaller and reaches a body length of 18 to 20 centimeters. The wingspan is 37 to 40 centimeters. The weight varies between 25 and 60 grams.
Both species have a gray-brown body top, a striking white eye-streak over and a dark stripe that stretches across the eye to the ear patches. When sandpiper the sides of the upper breast are gray and clearly separated from the otherwise white underparts. When Spotted Sandpiper body underside is spotted striking dark brown. The beaks of both species are straight and only slightly longer than the head.
Distribution area
The Sandpiper breeds in Europe and Asia from the UK to Japan. The Spotted Sandpiper breeds from Alaska to the southern coast of Hudson Bay and from there to the coast of Labrador.
In Central Europe, only the Sandpiper occurs. His stocks have declined continuously since the 19th century, so that in many regions only a few residual deposits have been preserved. The breeding success of these partially isolated remnant populations is too low to ensure an inventory receipt without immigration. At relatively undisturbed waters and close to nature remained, especially in alpine and subalpine areas have been largely stable for decades. In some Central European regions, there are also increases again. Thus, the Sandpiper has been reintroduced in the Netherlands since the 1990s. It breeds in this newly created protected areas along rivers. Even in parts of Hungary and Slovakia has shown that he inhabited for example, newly formed mining waters and reservoirs sometimes very quickly.
Way of life
The Actitis species feed mainly on insects. They are brought out from the soil surface, but also between columns or stones. Both types creep up on moving prey animals in a manner that is reminiscent of the hunting way of herons.
Both species are ground-nesting birds, which usually build a well-hidden ground nest near water. The nest at Sandpiper usually consists of four large brown eggs, which are covered with numerous dark spots and stains. The nest of the throttle shore rotor consists of three to five pale reddish brown eggs. When Sandpipers breed both parents birds, the Spotted Sandpiper only if it is a monogamous couple relationship. Spotted Sandpiper are partially polyandrous and in this case the female leaves the breeding grounds after oviposition. Here the male then moves to the young birds.