
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.
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