Sandpipers & Snipes in Down
Our list for Down has 15 sandpipers & snipes recorded regularly there: 5 residents, 1 winter visitor, 8 passage migrants and 1 scarce visitor
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Down in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 15, most common first
RedshankTringa totanusWinter visitorCommon27–29 cmRegularly Jul–May
CurlewNumenius arquataResidentCommon50–60 cmRecorded all year
Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpresPassage migrantCommon21–24 cmRegularly Aug–May
DunlinCalidris alpinaResidentCommon16–22 cmRegularly May–Jan
Black-tailed GodwitLimosa limosaResidentCommon40–44 cmRegularly Dec–Oct
GreenshankTringa nebulariaPassage migrantCommon30–35 cmRegularly Aug–Mar
WhimbrelNumenius phaeopusPassage migrantCommon40–46 cmRegularly May
Red KnotCalidris canutusPassage migrantUncommon23–26 cmRegularly Oct–Jan
Bar-tailed GodwitLimosa lapponicaPassage migrantUncommon37–41 cmRegularly Oct–Dec
Purple SandpiperCalidris maritimaPassage migrantUncommon20–22 cmRegularly Dec
Common SnipeGallinago gallinagoResidentUncommon25–27 cmRegularly Oct–Jun
Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucosPassage migrantUncommon18–20 cmRegularly Aug
Spotted RedshankTringa erythropusResidentUncommon29–31 cmRegularly Dec
RuffCalidris pugnaxPassage migrantUncommon20–32 cmRegularly Sep
SanderlingCalidris albaScarceUncommon18–20 cm
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Dunlin 16–22 cm
- Common Sandpiper 18–20 cm
- Sanderling 18–20 cm
- Purple Sandpiper 20–22 cm
- Ruddy Turnstone 21–24 cm
- Red Knot 23–26 cm
- Common Snipe 25–27 cm
- Ruff 20–32 cm
- Redshank 27–29 cm
- Spotted Redshank 29–31 cm
- Greenshank 30–35 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