General

Baird's Sandpiper: Medium-sized sandpiper with scaled, gray-brown upperparts and white underparts except for dark-spotted, gray-brown breast. Crown, face, and neck are buff with fine, dark brown streaks. Rump is white with dark central stripe extending through the center of gray-brown tail. Sexes are similar. Winter adult is grayer and has fewer streaks. Juvenile is similar to breeding adult but with scaled appearance on back highlighted by white-edged feathers.

Range and Habitat

Baird's Sandpiper: Breeds in the Arctic from eastern Siberia and Alaska to northwestern Greenland. Spends winters in South America, migrating mostly through the interior of North America; uncommon on Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Preferred habitats include freshwater marshes, riverbanks, and lakesides; less frequent on coastal and brackish marshes and adjacent grasslands.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"kreeep"

Interesting Facts

 The Baird's Sandpiper was named in honor of Spencer Fullerton Baird (1823-1887), for many years Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

 Research shows that in the fall adults fly along a narrow route through the Great Plains of North America, while young birds migrate over a broad front, and sometimes appear on both Pacific and Atlantic coasts. It is suspected that they may cover up to 4,000 miles nonstop.

 Once the young develop their back feathers capable of shedding rain or snow, they no longer requiring brooding and the adults abandon them and begin their southbound migration. Without competition for food from the adults, the young probably mature more quickly, and a month later, begin their first migration.

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

Author

Gary Owen Dick