Solitary Sandpiper Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  A small, slender shorebird with a somewhat long neck and long bill. It has fairly long wings and legs.

  Relative Size

  Slightly larger than a Spotted Sandpiper, smaller than a Lesser Yellowlegs.

  robin-sized

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 7.5-9.1 in (19-23 cm)
    • Weight: 1.1-2.3 oz (31.1-65.1 g)
    • Wingspan: 21.6-22.4 in (55-57 cm)

  © Benny Diaz / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Dark olive-brown above with a white eyering; pale below. In breeding plumage, the head and breast show dark stippling and the upperparts are neatly spotted with white. In nonbreeding plumage the back is mostly unspotted and the breast is washed with brown. The legs are olive. Dark underwings contrast sharply with white belly in flight.

• Behavior

  Solitary Sandpipers forage in small freshwater wetlands, often in wooded environments, where they walk slowly through shallow water, frequently bobbing the rear of the body. When startled, they fly a short distance, call, and land, often keeping the wings raised above the body momentarily after landing.
• Habitat

  Solitary Sandpipers nest in arctic muskeg bogs. Migrating and wintering birds use wooded swamps, river edges, bogs, lakes, ponds, ditches, pastures, rice fields, and wet meadows.