Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Popular and common variants / subspecies / other names: Spotted sandpiper, upland sandpiper, solitary sandpiper, curlew, snipe, woodcock
Geographic distribution: Sandpipers are found throughout Canada and the United States during the summer and breeding season; migration and the winter season take them to Mexico, Central America, and South America.
Environment: The sandpiper is a shorebird, comfortable along the edge of almost any water source, including oceans, lakes, rivers, marshes, and ponds.
Physical description: Sandpipers characteristically have long legs, necks, and bodies, with narrow bills. Their coloring generally consists mainly of browns, buffs, and whites. Sandpipers range in size depending on the species, but are roughly from about 7 inches up to 2 feet long. This bird’s average weight ranges between 1 and 8 ounces.
Interesting facts: The sandpiper’s typical behavior is to dart back and forth in the edge of the surf on beaches, watching for the foam to retreat so the bird can dip its thin, sensitive bill into the wet sand to find food. Sandpipers are primarily waders; they do not swim often, but they do fly well, and follow a long migratory path.
Myths, folklore, and cultural associations: The name sandpiper refers to the bird’s preferred environment of the shore and to the piping call it makes as it rises into the air or senses danger.
Snipes, woodcocks, and curlews are also members of the sandpiper family, and much of their lore is also applicable to sandpipers. Sighting a curlew at sea was a sign of bad weather and associated misfortune, as they are considered shorebirds. Hearing them call at night was an omen of upcoming bad luck. In parts of Scotland the curlew was called “the Judas bird” because its call gave away the hiding place of Covenanters, members of a rebel Scottish Presbyterian movement, to those searching for them.
Omens and divinatory meaning: The sandpiper is a liminal bird, most at ease in the damp area of the shore between the water and the land. It represents balance and ease in moving back and forth between two states of being, able to handle being not fully committed to one or the other. The sandpiper may be telling you that being betwixt and between two situations isn’t such a disaster after all. Be comfortable in your position, and trust in yourself. Share in the best of both worlds.
The sandpiper’s darting movements may also suggest to you that you can make quick forays into new ground. The bird’s method of seeking food and feeding may encourage you to look beneath the surface for whatever it is you seek, in order to find what is of value to you.
Associated energies: Scavenging, quickness, balance, willingness to seek below the surface
Associated season: Summer
Element associations: Earth, water, air
Color associations: Buff, beige, brown, white