Common and Spotted Sandpipers

Abstract

Common and Spotted Sandpipers by Phil Holland. 2018. Whittles Publishing Ltd., Dunbeath, Caithness, Scotland, UK. x + 168 pp., 28 color photographs, 31 text figures, 18 tables, 3 appendices. $24.95 (paper). ISBN 978-184995-361-0. Prompted by the sudden death of his friend and Common Sandpiper “partner in crime,” Derek Yalden, author and ornithologist Phil Holland provides an authoritative and sometimes humorous account of their findings from a 40-year study of the Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucus), conducted primarily in the Peak District region of England. The author also compares, when available, these findings with those of the biology of the Spotted Sandpiper (A. macularius), the only other living member of the genus. For these comparisons, Holland draws naturally from the studies of Lewis Oring and his students, who spent 19 intensive summers on Leach Lake in north-central Minnesota, where they described virtually all that we know about Spotted Sandpipers in North America. Delightfully insightful, this book falls somewhere between an academic text, with various data presented within its numerous tables and figures, and a book of natural history. The chapter organization follows the events of the Common Sandpiper annual cycle, starting, somewhat precipitously, on page 1 with a description of breeding behavior. This is followed by descriptions of southbound migration, wintering (nonbreeding) behavior, and northward migration. The final chapters include descriptions of feeding behavior, population biology (with a serious and well-appreciated attempt at understanding fluctuations in breeding numbers from the Peak District study area), and ending with chapters on evolution and “their place in the world.” Sprinkled throughout are comparisons with the biology of Spotted Sandpiper. Three appendices include descriptions of food items and morphometrics. I would argue that the description of the main breeding area, also relegated to an appendix, should have formed the basis of Chapter 1, along with an introduction to the broader region (e.g., where and what is the Peak District?) that was relied on so heavily for their understanding of the biology of the Common Sandpiper. The introduction might have benefited from a discussion of why the author thought that this book, including its comparisons between the Common and Spotted sandpipers, was necessary and interesting, thereby imploring why the reader should continue.