46. The Wood Sandpiper

16 October 2010, 12:00am

1 min read

The wood sandpiper (M: swejda cara) is one of several species of shorebirds that visit Malta. It is a small wading bird with long bill and long legs, very handy tools when probing wet mud for worms. Due to their small size and subdued monochromatic colours, these birds can be easily missed. Lack of bright colour is in fact a feature common to many waders, as these birds need to survive in wide open spaces like shores and mudflats, with nowhere to hide from predators. As our shores are thronged with crowds during summer, wood sandpipers and other waders visiting the islands at this time of year have little choice as to where to rest and look for a snack. So they have to make do with places like BirdLife's Ghadira and Is-Simar nature reserves, and the saltpans at Is-Salini.

Text by Victor Falzon, photo by Denis Cachia.