 the green sandpiper (tringa ochropus) is a small wader (shorebird) of the old world. it represents an ancient lineage of the genus tringa; its only close living relative is the solitary sandpiper (t. solitaria). they both have brown wings with little light dots and a delicate but contrasting neck and chest pattern. in addition, both species nest in trees, unlike most other scolopacids.pereira, sÃ©rgio luiz & baker, alan j. (2005): multiple gene evidence for parallel evolution and retention of ancestral morphological states in the shanks (charadriiformes: scolopacidae). condor 107(3): 514â526. doi: 10.1650/0010-5422(2005)107[0514:mgefpe]2.0.co;2 pdf fulltext given its basal position in tringa, it is fairly unsurprising that suspected cases of hybridisation between this species and the common sandpiper (a. hypoleucos) of the sister genus actitis have been reported. == description ==  this species is a somewhat plump wader with a dark greenish-brown back and wings, greyish head and breast and otherwise white underparts. the back is spotted white to varying extents, being maximal in the breeding adult, and less in winter and young birds. the legs and short bill are both dark green. it is conspicuous and characteristically patterned in flight, with the wings dark above and below and a brilliant white rump. the latter feature reliably distinguishes it from the slightly smaller but otherwise very similar solitary sandpiper (t. solitaria) of north america. in flight it has a characteristic three-note whistle. == distribution and ecology == it breeds across subarctic europe and asia and is a migratory bird, wintering in southern europe, the indian subcontinent, southeast asia, and tropical africa. food is small invertebrate items picked off 
Animals_described_in_1758 Birds_of_Cameroon Birds_of_Europe Birds_of_Pakistan Birds_of_Turkey Birds_of_Western_Sahara Birds_of_the_Philippines IUCN_Red_List_least_concern_species Sandpipers Tringa