Scolopacidae

Many, see text

The Scolopacidae are a large family of waders, (known as shorebirds in North America).

The majority of species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. Different lengths of bills enable different species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food.

Many of the smaller species found in coastal habitats, particularly but not exclusively the calidrids, are often named as "Sandpipers", but this term does not have a strict meaning, since the Upland Sandpiper is a grassland species.

This large family is often further subdivided into groups of similar birds. These groups do not necessarily consist of a single genus. The groups are

• Godwits (4, all genus Limosa)
• Curlews (8, all genus Numenius)
• Upland Sandpiper (1 genus Bartramia)
• Shanks and Tattlers (16)
• Polynesian sandpipers (2)
• Turnstones (2, both genus Arenaria)
• Phalaropes (3, all genus Phalaropus)
• Woodcocks (6, all genus Scolopax)
• Snipe (16)
• Dowitchers (3, all genus Limnodromus)
• Calidrids and allies (25, of which 21 in genus Calidris )

The taxonomic relationships of the family as a whole are as follows:

• ORDER CHARADRIIFORMES
• Suborder Charadrii: waders
  • Family Thinocoridae: seedsnipe
  • Family Pedionomidae: Plains Wanderer
  • Family Scolopacidae
    • Eurasian Woodcock, Scolopax rusticola
    • Amami Woodcock, Scolopax mira
    • Dusky Woodcock, Scolopax saturata
    • Sulawesi Woodcock, Scolopax celebensis
    • Moluccan Woodcock, Scolopax rochussenii
    • American Woodcock, Scolopax minor
    • Chatham Snipe , Coenocorypha pusilla
    • Subantarctic Snipe , Coenocorypha aucklandica
    • Jack Snipe, Lymnocryptes minimus
    • Solitary Snipe , Gallinago solitaria
    • Latham's Snipe , Gallinago hardwickii
    • Wood Snipe , Gallinago nemoricola
    • Pintail Snipe, Gallinago stenura
    • Swinhoe's Snipe , Gallinago megala
    • African Snipe , Gallinago nigripennis
    • Madagascar Snipe , Gallinago macrodactyla
    • Great Snipe, Gallinago media
    • Common Snipe, Gallinago gallinago
    • South American Snipe , Gallinago paraguaiae
    • Noble Snipe , Gallinago nobilis
    • Giant Snipe , Gallinago undulata
    • Fuegian Snipe , Gallinago stricklandii
    • Andean Snipe , Gallinago jamesoni
    • Imperial Snipe , Gallinago imperialis
    • Short-billed Dowitcher, Limnodromus griseus
    • Long-billed Dowitcher, Limnodromus scolopaceus
    • Asiatic Dowitcher, Limnodromus semipalmatus
    • Black-tailed Godwit, Limosa limosa
    • Hudsonian Godwit, Limosa haemastica
    • Bar-tailed Godwit, Limosa lapponica
    • Marbled Godwit, Limosa fedoa
    • Little Curlew, Numenius minutus
    • Eskimo Curlew, Numenius borealis
    • Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus
    • Bristle-thighed Curlew, Numenius tahitiensis
    • Slender-billed Curlew, Numenius tenuirostris Conservation status: Critical
    • Eurasian Curlew, Numenius arquata
    • Eastern Curlew , Numenius madagascariensis
    • Long-billed Curlew, Numenius americanus
    • Upland Sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda
    • Spotted Redshank, Tringa erythropus
    • Common Redshank, Tringa totanus
    • Marsh Sandpiper, Tringa stagnatilis
    • Common Greenshank, Tringa nebularia
    • Spotted Greenshank , Tringa guttifer
    • Greater Yellowlegs, Tringa melanoleuca
    • Lesser Yellowlegs, Tringa flavipes
    • Green Sandpiper, Tringa ochropus
    • Solitary Sandpiper, Tringa solitaria
    • Wood Sandpiper, Tringa glareola
    • Terek Sandpiper, Xenus cinereus
    • Common Sandpiper, Actitis hypoleucos
    • Spotted Sandpiper, Actitis macularia
    • Grey-tailed Tattler, Heterosceles brevipes
    • Wandering Tattler , Heterosceles incanus
    • Willet, Catoptrophorus semipalmatus
    • Tuamotu Sandpiper, Prosobonia cancellataConservation status: Endangered
    • White-winged Sandpiper, Prosobonia cleucoptera Extinct
    • Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria interpres
    • Black Turnstone, Arenaria melanocephala
    • Surfbird, Aphriza virgata
    • Great Knot, Calidris tenuirostris
    • Red Knot, Calidris canutus
    • Sanderling, Calidris alba
    • Semipalmated Sandpiper, Calidris pusilla
    • Western Sandpiper, Calidris mauri
    • Red-necked Stint, Calidris ruficollis
    • Little Stint, Calidris minuta
    • Temminck's Stint, Calidris temminckii
    • Long-toed Stint, Calidris subminuta
    • Least Sandpiper, Calidris minutilla
    • White-rumped Sandpiper, Calidris fuscicollis
    • Baird's Sandpiper, Calidris bairdii
    • Pectoral Sandpiper, Calidris melanotos
    • Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Calidris acuminata
    • Curlew Sandpiper, Calidris ferruginea
    • Stilt Sandpiper, Calidris himantopus
    • Purple Sandpiper, Calidris maritima
    • Rock Sandpiper , Calidris ptilocnemis
    • Dunlin, Calidris alpina
    • Spoon-billed Sandpiper , Eurynorhynchus pygmeus (endangered)
    • Broad-billed Sandpiper, Limicola falcinellus
    • Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Tryngites subruficollis
    • Ruff, Philomachus pugnax
    • Wilson's Phalarope, Steganopus tricolor
    • Red-necked Phalarope, Phalaropus lobatus
    • Red Phalarope, Phalaropus fulicaria
  • Family Rostratulidae: painted snipe
  • Family Jacanidae: jacanas
  • Family Chionididae: sheathbills
  • Family Burhinidae: thick-knees
  • Family Haematopodidae: oystercatchers
  • Family Recurvirostridae: avocets
  • Family Ibidorhynchidae: Ibisbill
  • Family Charadriidae plovers and lapwings
  • Family Pluvianellidae: Magellanic Plover
  • Family Dromadidae: Crab Plover
  • Family Glareolidae: pratincoles and coursers
• Suborder Lari: gulls and allies; 4 families
• Suborder Alcae: auks; 1 family

In the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, waders and many other groups are subsumed into a greatly enlarged order Ciconiiformes.

See also

• list of birds