Solitary Sandpiper

Tringa solitariaOrder: CHARADRIIFORMESFamily: Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)

General

Solitary Sandpiper: Medium-sized sandpiper with pale-spotted, dark brown back and rump, and white underparts with streaks on neck and sides. Head is dark and eye-ring is bold white. Tail is black with conspicuous black-and-white barred edges. Bill, legs, and feet are olive-green. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Solitary Sandpiper: Breeds in wooded northland of Canada and Alaska. Spends winters from the southern states and the West Indies south to central South America. Preferred habitats include swampy margins of brackish pools, freshwater ponds, and woodland streams.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"plik", "peet-weet"

Interesting Facts

The Solitary Sandpiper is commonly seen in migration along the banks of ponds and creeks. While not truly solitary, it does not migrate in large flocks the way other shorebirds do.

First described by ornithologist Alexander Wilson in 1813, its nest was not discovered until 1903. Until that time, eggs and young of the Spotted Sandpiper were misidentified as those of the Solitary Sandpiper.

Its habit of nesting in the abandoned nests of other birds is unique among North American shorebirds, which generally nest on the ground.

A group of sandpipers has many collective nouns, including a "bind", "contradiction", "fling", "hill", and "time-step" of sandpipers.

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Solitary Sandpiper

Solitary Sandpiper: Medium sandpiper, pale-spotted, dark brown back and rump, white underparts with streaks on neck and sides. Head is dark, eye-ring is bold white. Tail is black with conspicuous black-and-white barred edges. Bill, legs, and feet are olive-green. Direct flight is light and bouyant.

● Song: "plik", "peet-weet"

● Foraging & Feeding: Solitary Sandpiper: Feeds mostly on terrestrial and aquatic insects, spiders, frogs, worms, and crustaceans. Forages in shallow water with its pliable, sensitive-tipped bill; wades to breast level and actively picks and jabs at prey.

● Breeding & nesting: Solitary Sandpiper: Four to five olive eggs marked with brown are laid in an abandoned Rusty Blackbird, Bohemian Waxwing, Gray Jay, or American Robin nest; occasionally builds own cup-shaped nest. Incubation ranges from 23 to 24 days and is carried out by the female. Young fly at 17 to 20 days.

● Similar species: Solitary Sandpiper: Lesser Yellowlegs has longer, yellow legs and white rump. Stilt Sandpiper has white rump.

Flight Pattern

Light buoyant swallowlike direct flight, Often zigzags on takeoff.

● Range & Habitat: Solitary Sandpiper: Breeds in wooded northland of Canada and Alaska. Spends winters from the southern states and the West Indies south to central South America. Preferred habitats include swampy margins of brackish pools, freshwater ponds, and woodland streams.

^BreedingMonogamous

^PopulationFairly common on breeding grounds

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight1.7 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America