Summary: | Autumn migration and biometrics of the Common Sandpiper were studied at the Gulf of Gdańsk during twelve seasons: 1983-1994 (from mid-July to the end of September) . Based on ringing recoveries, the mean direction of autumn migration of adults was 214° (± 22°) and juveniles 221° (± 14°) -but the difference is not statistically significant. Bird numbers peaked in the first half of August, when juveniles appeared. Adults had a significantly longer bill and shorter tarsus plus toe and wing than juveniles, although those differences were very small. The body mass of the Common Sandpipers varied from 35 g to 71 g and, on average, juveniles were significantly heavier than the adults . Juveniles of the Common Sandpiper migrating in the second half of July had longer bills than those migrating in the second half of August . Late migrants were heavier than birds arriving in the second half of July and in the first half of August.
|