Solitary Sandpiper

Tringa solitaria

HOW TO IDENTIFY:

* Length: 7 inches
* Fairly small, long-legged shorebird
* Greenish legs
* Bold white eye ring
* Dark rump
* Dark tail has black bars on the white outer tail feathers
* Dark underwing
* Sexes similar
* Juvenile similar to basic-plumaged adult
* Usually solitary, often bobs tail

Adult alternate:

* Head, neck, and chest streaked with dark brown and white
* Dark brown back and upperwings with small white spots
* White belly
* Whitish supraloral stripe, dark lores

Adult basic:

* Smooth gray-brown head and neck fading to white belly
* Gray-brown back speckled with white

Similar species:

Yellowlegs are similar but have yellow (not green) legs and white rumps, visible in flight. Spotted Sandpiper has a white wing stripe visible in flight and a dark back without white spots. Two European species, the Green Sandpiper and the Wood Sandpiper are easily separated by tail pattern, underwing color and head pattern.