Actitis hypoleucos (Common Sandpiper)
Venue: Sirwani, Singtam, South Sikkim
Date: February 16 2014
Pic: Shital Pradhan
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Scientific
classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Subclass: Neornithes
Infraclass: Neognathae
Superorder: Neoaves
Order: Charadriiformes
Superorder: Neoaves
Family: Scolopacidae
Genus: Actitis
Species: A.
hypoleucos
Binomial name: Actitis hypoleucos (Linnaeus, 1758)
Other Names: Common Sandpiper
Special feature: This bird and its American sister
species, the Spotted Sandpiper, make up the genus Actitis.
In the
Nukumanu language of the Nukumanu Islands (Papua New Guinea), this species is
usually called tiritavoi. Another Nukumanu name for it, matakakoni,
exists, but this is considered somewhat taboo and not used when children and
women are around. The reason for this is that matakakoni means "bird that
walks a little, then copulates", in reference to the pumping tail and
thrusting head movements the Actitis species characteristically perform during
foraging. (Source: Wikipedia)