noun
definition
Any of various small wading birds of the family Scolopacidae.
Examples of sandpipers in a Sentence
The fifth order (the third of the Dasypaedes) is formed by the Grallatores, divided into 2 " series " - (I) Altinares, consisting of 2 " cohorts," Herodii with I family, the herons, and Pelargi with 4 families, spoonbills, ibises, storks, and the umbre (Scopus), with Balaeniceps; (2) Humilinares, also consisting of 2 " cohorts," Limicolae with 2 families, sandpipers and snipes, stilts and avocets, and Cursores with 8 families, including plovers, bustards, cranes, rails, and all the other " waders."
Placed by most systematists in the family Scolopacidae, the birds commonly called Sandpipers seem to form three sections, which have been often regarded as Subfamilies - Totaninae, Tringinae and Phalaropodinae, the last indeed in some classifications taking the higher rank of a Family - Phalaropodidae.
This section comprehends three species only, known as Phalaropes or swimming sandpipers, which are distinguished by the membranes that fringe their toes, in two of the species forming marginal lobes,' and by the character of their lower plumage, which is as close as that of a duck.
We may mention the sensitiveness of the bill, which, though to some extent noticeable in many Sandpipers (q.v.), is in Snipes carried to an extreme by a number of filaments, belonging to the fifth pair of nerves, which run almost to the tip and open immediately under the soft cuticle in a series of cells that give this portion of the surface of the premaxillaries, when exposed, a honeycomb-like appearance.
Another visit to Torangitaival produced no buntings, although 2 each of Smew and Wood Sandpipers from the bird tower were satisfying.
We did have the benefit of lots of migrating waders, including the white-rumped sandpipers.
From Herriot's Bridge or Heron's Green a patient observer may be rewarded with view of returning common or green sandpipers.
Five common sandpipers and 20+ turnstones were present on the new sea defenses at Glyne Gap.
The cock bird, when, to use the fenman's expression, he has not "his show on," and the hen at all seasons, offer no very remarkable deviation from ordinary sandpipers; outwardly there is nothing, except the unequal size of the two sexes, to rouse suspicion of any abnormal peculiarity.
From Herriot 's Bridge or Heron 's Green a patient observer may be rewarded with view of returning common or green sandpipers.