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Gray-tailed Tattler

Tringa brevipesOrder: CHARADRIIFORMESFamily: Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)

Gray-tailed Tattler Breeding Male Portrait
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General

Gray-tailed Tattler: Medium-sized sandpiper with gray upperparts and cap, white eyebrow and throat, gray streaked breast, and pale gray underparts. Wings and tail are dark. Sexes are similar. Winter adult has pale forehead.

Range and Habitat

Gray-tailed Tattler: Occurs as a regular spring and fall migrant on the outer Aleutian Islands, Pribilofs, and St. Lawrence Island, and casually on the Alaska coast, north to Point Barrow; there are single records from Washington and California.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"tu-weeeeeet", "klee-klee"

Interesting Facts

 The Gray-tailed Tattler is also known as the Gray-rumped Tattler, the Gray-rumped Sandpiper, the Siberian Tattler, and the Polynesian Tattler.

 It is closely related to its North American counterpart, the Wandering Tattler and is difficult to distinguish from that species.

 A group of tattlers are collectively known as a "whisper" of tattlers.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Gray-tailed Tattler
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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.
Family Sandpiper (Scolopacidae)_blue
Species Tringa brevipes
Length10 Inches
Wingspan20 Inches

Gray-tailed Tattler

Gray-tailed Tattler: Medium sandpiper with gray upperparts and cap, white eyebrow and throat, gray streaked breast, and pale gray underparts. Wings and tail are dark. Legs and feet are yellow. Eats insects and larvae, picks up food in sand and water. Direct flight, quick wing beats.

● Song: "tu-weeeeeet", "klee-klee"

● Foraging & Feeding: Gray-tailed Tattler: Feeds on arthropods and other invertebrates; forages on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: Gray-tailed Tattler: Four light blue eggs speckled with black are laid on the bare ground sheltered by rocks; sometimes uses an abandoned thrush nest. Incubation ranges from 24 to 25 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Gray-tailed Tattler: Wandering Tattler has more distinct bars on underparts and darker gray upperparts.

Flight Pattern

Quick direct effortless flight with rapid flicking wing beats.
Gray-tailed Tattler Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Gray-tailed Tattler: Occurs as a regular spring and fall migrant on the outer Aleutian Islands, Pribilofs, and St. Lawrence Island, and casually on the Alaska coast, north to Point Barrow; there are single records from Washington and California.
BreedingMonogamous, Loose colonies
PopulationUncommon to rare
MigrationMigratory
Weight3.8 Ounces