A small short legged and short billed wading bird - bill with a pale base and dark tip- often seen in The Western Isles. This birds upper parts are olive brown, finely spotted - the neck and sides of breast are grey-brown - the underparts are white. The legs are greenish.It has a distinctive flight with stiff, bowed wings. Juveniles are more heavily barred above and have buff edges to the wing feathers

The adult is 18-20 cm long, with a 32-35 cm wingspan.

The common sandpiper is a migratory, but it frequents similar habitats year-round. When in upland areas, sandpipers live along river, ponds, or lakes. In the Western Isles you can see them hopping around the rocks on cliff tops and moorland close to the sea.

Sandpipers are ground feeders that dine on crustaceans, insects, worms, and other coastal creatures. They retrieve them by meticulously pecking and probing with their short bills. Common Sandpipers are abundant but typically feed alone or in pairs,

The sandpipers sound off with a distinctive three-note, piping-like cry—often represented as "twee-wee-wee."

Sandpipers have a breeding song that is a repeated rising kittie-needie. They nest near water. Their nest is usually a shallow hollow on the ground, lined with leaves and plant materials, under overhanging plants. Ocassionally they build their nests in trees or shrubs or on rafts of floating vegetation. There are usually 4 yellowish eggs with dark mottling or spots. The male does most of the incubation. (21-23 days). As soon as they are dry, the hatchlings disperse away from the nest to hide among the surrounding vegetation. The male does most of the rearing.

The common sandpiper bobs up and down continually.It normally looks crouched and often bobs the rear of its body up and down. Its flight is distinctive with shallow, rapid beats interrupted by short glides on stiff, downward bent wings. These show a conspicuous white wing bar.