Sandpipers & Snipes in Ireland
Our list for Ireland has 30 sandpipers & snipes recorded regularly there: 5 residents, 2 summer visitors, 11 winter visitors and 12 passage migrants
Most likely in October
GBIF · Oct
Share of all bird records in Ireland in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 30, most common first
Buff-breasted SandpiperCalidris subruficollisPassage migrantRare18–20 cmRegularly Sep–Oct
Jack SnipeLymnocryptes minimusWinter visitorRare17–19 cmRegularly Sep–Apr
Long-billed DowitcherLimnodromus scolopaceusPassage migrantRare27–30 cmRegularly Nov
White-rumped SandpiperCalidris fuscicollisPassage migrantRare15–18 cmRegularly Jul–Oct
Semipalmated SandpiperCalidris pusillaPassage migrantRare15–18 cmRegularly Sep–Oct
Red-necked PhalaropePhalaropus lobatusPassage migrantRare18–19 cmRegularly Jun
Baird's SandpiperCalidris bairdiiPassage migrantRare14–17 cmRegularly Sep
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Little Stint 13–15 cm
- Baird's Sandpiper 14–17 cm
- White-rumped Sandpiper 15–18 cm
- Semipalmated Sandpiper 15–18 cm
- Jack Snipe 17–19 cm
- Red-necked Phalarope 18–19 cm
- Dunlin 16–22 cm
- Sanderling 18–20 cm
- Common Sandpiper 18–20 cm
- Buff-breasted Sandpiper 18–20 cm
- Wood Sandpiper 19–21 cm
- Curlew Sandpiper 18–23 cm
- Purple Sandpiper 20–22 cm
- Pectoral Sandpiper 19–23 cm
- Grey Phalarope 20–22 cm
- Ruddy Turnstone 21–24 cm
- Green Sandpiper 21–24 cm
- Red Knot 23–26 cm
- Lesser Yellowlegs 23–27 cm
- Common Snipe 25–27 cm
- Ruff 20–32 cm
- Redshank 27–29 cm
- Long-billed Dowitcher 27–30 cm
- Spotted Redshank 29–31 cm
- Greenshank 30–35 cm
- Eurasian Woodcock 33–38 cm
- Bar-tailed Godwit 37–41 cm
- Black-tailed Godwit 40–44 cm
- Whimbrel 40–46 cm
- Curlew 50–60 cm
Body length, bill to tail. Rare birds in grey.
Data: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), accessed via GBIF.org, CC BY 4.0. Records from 2019–2024, aggregated and filtered by Birdfact. How these lists are made