Xenus cinereus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The Terek sandpiper (Xenus cinereus) is a small migratory Palearctic wader species and is the only member of the genus Xenus. It is named after the Terek River which flows into the west of the Caspian Sea, as it was first observed around this area.
The Terek sandpiper was formally described and illustrated in 1775 by the German naturalist Johann Anton Güldenstädt under the binomial name Scolopax cinerea. He reported that he had seen pairs breeding at the mouth of the Terek River where it flows into the Caspian Sea. It is now the only species placed in the genus Xenus that was introduced in 1829 by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup. The genus name Xenus is from Ancient Greek xenos meaning "stranger"; the specific epithet cinereus is Latin for "ash-grey" from cinis, cineris, "ashes". The species is considered to be monotypic, no subspecies are recognised.
Among the Scolopacidae, Xenus is part of the shank-tattler-phalarope clade and less closely related to the calidrid sandpipers. Based on the degree of DNA sequence divergence and putative shank and phalarope fossils from around the Oligocene/Miocene boundary some 23–22 million years ago, the Terek sandpiper presumably... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bako National Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 2 | Sundarbans National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Bali Barat National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 5 | Rottnest Island | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Raja Ampat | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 8 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 9 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kuwait City | 🇰🇼 Kuwait | |
| 2 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | Maputo | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 4 | Manama | 🇧🇭 Bahrain | |
| 5 | Makassar | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 6 | Kozhikode | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Kazan | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 8 | Naha | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 9 | Davao City | 🇵🇭 Philippines | |
| 10 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Terek Sandpiper sighting in Raja Ampat on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 178th most-seen of the 200 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Terek Sandpiper in Raja Ampat on a given day, against under 5% in October to August, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Terek Sandpiper sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
7th of 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Terek Sandpiper sightings, Raja Ampat ranks 7th at under 5%. The best odds are in Bako National Park (Malaysia, about 20%), Sundarbans National Park (India, about 10%) and West Coast National Park (South Africa, about 10%).
Same family: Scolopacidae
The closest relatives of the Terek Sandpiper that you can see in Raja Ampat (family Scolopacidae, Sandpipers and Allies) are Common Sandpiper (about 30%), Whimbrel (about 20%) and Red-necked Phalarope (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Terek Sandpiper is recorded against all the birds logged in Raja Ampat (9 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
