Green Sandpiper

Tringa ochropus

Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Presence in the Strait: Seasonal
Abundance: scarce
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Andarríos grande

Photograph: tomas_kay, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 21–24 cm
Wingspan: 41–46 cm
Weight: 85 g

Presence in the Strait

Scarce winter visitor to wetlands and marshes (<30), more common during the migration period.

Identification

Very dark plumage, with secretive habits. Similar to Wood Sandpipers, but larger and more robust. In flight, the only shorebirds to display black underwings, in contrast to white rump and underparts. Bobs rear body like most Sandpipers.

Movements

Migration continues throughout most of year. Peaks in 2nd hf. March and 2nd hf. August.

Ring recoveries

Belgium (2).

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

23 %

Peak in September. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 23 March 1978
Latest record: 7 March 2025

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: LC · Least concern · wintering or migrating
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Phenology compared

Monthly distribution in proportion, by decade. It shows whether the passage is getting earlier or later.

2000–2009

2010–2026

Proportions, not totals: observation effort grew faster than any population.

Where they come from

2 birds ringed in other countries and recovered in the area.

Belgium2

See the journey on the map

Same genus in the Strait

Wood Sandpiper19–21 cm · Migrant · overlapping size
Lesser Yellowlegs23–25 cm · Vagrant · overlapping size
Common Redshank27–29 cm · Seasonal
Spotted Redshank29–32 cm · Migrant
Common Greenshank30–35 cm · Seasonal

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
GBIF taxon key: 2481728

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: tomas_kay, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Green Sandpiper

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery