Spotted Sandpiper

Actitis macularia

HOW TO IDENTIFY:

* Length: 6.25 inches
* Fairly small, short-legged shorebird
* Yellowish or pinkish legs
* White wingstripe visible in flight
* Teeters tail when feeding and walking
* Distinctive, stiff winged, fluttery flight on bowed wings
* Sexes similar
* Juvenile similar to basic-plumaged adult

Adult alternate:

* Orange bill with a black tip
* Pale supercilium and dark eyeline
* Brown head, hindneck, back, and upperwings with small black bars
* White throat, breast and belly with bold black spots

Adult basic:

* Variably dark bill with pale base
* Pale brown head with dark eyeline and pale supercilium
* Plain dark back, upperwings with dark and buff bars
* Sides of breast brown, with finger of white extending up in front of leading edge of wing when at rest
* Throat, breast, and belly white, without dark spots

Similar species:

Solitary Sandpiper is larger and has a bold eyering, no wing stripe, white-spotted upperparts and a different flight style. The Eurasian Common Sandpiper, a rare migrant, is very similar to basic and juvenile-plumaged Spotted Sandpipers. The Spotted Sandpiper has a shorter tail, shorter white wing stripe, more barred wing coverts and, as a juvenile, tertials that are marked with buff only at the tip.