Hidididi! Loud and shrill is the call of the Common Sandpiper(Actitis hypoleucos). Its habitat is the wild river. Here, where the water is constantly rushing, it has to come up with tricks to communicate with its fellow species. Like the wagtail, it permanently bobs its entire body.

Common sandpipers can dive and swim. They often fly just above the water surface and several flat wing beats follow between gliding phases with downward curved wings. For its nest, the sandpiper seeks cover in the willow growth of riparian areas. But its chicks do not have much time to nest. They are nest fledglers that leave the breeding hollow shortly after hatching, because floods can quickly change the situation on the Tyrolean Lech.

The sandpiper is native to practically all of Europe. Nevertheless, it is a protected and endangered species. The most important population in Austria lives on the Tyrolean Lech.