Marsh Sandpiper

The marsh sandpiper is a small, elegant shank, 22–26cm long with a wingspan of 55–59cm and a weight of 45–120g. It looks like a slim greenshank, with a long, fine, straight bill and very long yellowish legs, greyish-brown in breeding plumage and paler in winter, and it shows a white wedge up the back in flight. Despite the resemblance, it is more closely related to the common redshank and wood sandpiper, sharing their light brown breeding plumage with diffuse spots on the breast and neck (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in open grassy steppe and taiga wetlands from easternmost Europe to the Russian Far East, and is migratory, most birds wintering in Africa and India and some in Southeast Asia and Australia. In winter it prefers freshwater wetlands such as swamps and lakes and is usually seen singly or in small groups. In India it is a winter migrant with a large range. SoIB 2023 estimates a long-term decline of about 62% and a current fall of about 6% a year, and rates it a High conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).