Quantcast

Ruff

Philomachus pugnaxOrder: CHARADRIIFORMESFamily: Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)
Ruff Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: Dagger
  • Eye Color: No data.
  • Head Pattern: Eyeline, Capped, Streaked, Eyering (complete or broken)
  • Crown Color: Gray-brown and Red-brown and black mottled.
  • Forehead Color: Gray-brown and Red-brown and black mottled.
  • Nape Color: Gray-brown and Red-brown and black mottled.
  • Throat Color: White with orange-brown streaking.
  • Cere color: No Data
Ruff Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 20-30 cm (8-12 in)
  • Weight: 170 g (6 oz)
  • Size: Size 3. Medium (9 - 16 in)
  • Color: Red, Orange, White, Brown, Black
  • Underparts: White with multicolored variable barring.
  • Upperparts: Gray-brown, red-brown and black mottled.
  • Back Pattern: Barred or banded, Striped or streaked, Solid, Scaled or Scalloped
  • Belly Pattern: Barred or banded, Solid, Scaled or Scalloped
  • Breast Pattern: Barred or banded, Solid, Scaled or Scalloped
Ruff Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Direct flight with rapid wing beats.
  • Wingspan Range: 46-56 cm (18-22 in)
  • Wing Shape: Pointed-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Pointed Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Banded
  • Upper Tail: White with dark central stripe.
  • Under Tail: White
  • Leg Color: Orange-yellow
.
Bird database and its related content, illustrations and media is Copyright © 2002 - 2007  Whatbird.com
All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced without written permission from Mitch Waite Group.
 Privacy Policy.
Percevia® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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.
Family Sandpiper (Scolopacidae)_blue
Species Philomachus pugnax
Length8 - 12 Inches
Wingspan20 Inches

Ruff

Ruff: Large sandpiper with variably-colored frilly tufts on the neck that ranges from black to rufous to white to speckled and bared. Female lacks ruff. Head is orange-brown and the belly is white. Bill is orange with dark, drooped tip. Orange-yellow legs. Low, direct flight with rapid wing beats.

● Song: "tu-wit" replaced ' with "

● Foraging & Feeding: Ruff: Feeds on insects, frogs, small fish, and seeds.

● Breeding & nesting: Ruff: Four brown spotted, gray green or buff eggs are laid in a shallow ground depression lined with grass. Incubation ranges from 20 to 23 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Ruff: Male is unmistakable; Pectoral Sandpiper is distinguished from female by cleaner breast demarcation and pale area behind eye; Buff-breasted Sandpiper is smaller than juvenile Ruff and lacks white belly.

Flight Pattern

Direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Ruff Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Ruff: Breeds in Eurasia; occasionally nests in northwestern Alaska. Winters mainly in Africa; rare but regular migrant to Hawaii, Alaska, and the east coast of North America. Breeds on lowland grassy wet meadows; winters on wet meadows, muddy fringes of pools and lakes, and brackish coastal lagoons.
BreedingPromiscuous
PopulationAccidental in North America
MigrationMigratory
Weight6 Ounces