Gould considered the name 'Wood Sandpiper' inappropiate, for the bird 'rather shuns the forest than otherwise'. In the marsh, peat-bog, swampy meadow, 'the shrill piping note of the male is uttered while he is sitting on a stone, a cushion of bog-grass, or any slight elevation. [It]...may be seen circling overhead, uttering querulous cries, if its breeding grounds are being intruded upon...' Gould saw Wood Sandpipers breeding during his expedition to 'the great dreary waste of the Dovrefjeld, Norway' with Joseph Wolf.

The male and female are depicted in summer plumage with their young brood.

DISTRIBUTION: Breeds from Scandinavia across northern Eurasia to Kamchatka, Kuril and Commander islands; southwest Alaska in west, and central Aleutian islands. Winters from Mediterranean region and south Asia south to south Africa and Australia. Breeds in small numbers in Scotland