Actitis macularia

Description

The spotted sandpiper has a brown back and partial brown breastband, a white front, long pale legs, a dark eyeline, and a white eyebrow. The nonbreeding adult and the young spotted sandpiper have long brown bills. The breeding adult and the young spotted sandpiper have some black bars on their backs, while the nonbreeding adult has a plain, unbarred back. The adult breeding bird also has a long orange bill and black spots on it front.

Voice

The spotted sandpiper has several calls. They say "peet," "peet weet," "peet weet weet weet," and "tototowee tototowee."

Breeding

April to August

Habitat

Spotted sandpipers like the shores of likes, ponds, and streams. They also live in marshes and along rocky coasts.

Diet

The spotted sandpiper likes to eat insects, crustaceans, and every now and then, small fish.

Range

You can find spotted sandpipers all over Canada and the northern United States during the summer and along the southern coast of the United States during the winter.

Other Useful Information

The spotted sandpiper is constantly raising and lowering its tail area, as though it is having trouble keeping its balance.

Similar Species

The solitary sandpiper looks kind of like the spotted sandpiper; however, it has longer, grayer legs than the spotted sandpiper and it has a dark back with white spots. The solitary snadpiper also looks much thinner than the spotted sandpiper.