Spotted Sandpiper

The Spotted Sandpiper is a small, active sandpiper found along the edges of streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds across North America. In breeding plumage, its white underparts are boldly marked with round dark spots, a pattern unique among North American sandpipers, while the upperparts are plain olive-brown. The bill and legs show a pale orange-pink base in the breeding season.

In non-breeding plumage the spots disappear, leaving plain white underparts, though the species can still usually be recognized by its behavior and the plain brown upperparts with a white shoulder mark.

A constant, characteristic bobbing or "teetering" motion of the rear body and tail, performed almost continuously while foraging or standing, is one of the most distinctive behavioral traits of any North American shorebird.

Key field marks

• Bold dark spots on white underparts in breeding plumage
• Constant bobbing/teetering of the tail and rear body
• Stiff, shallow, fluttering wingbeats in flight, close to the water
• Orange-based bill in breeding season

Similar species

• Common Sandpiper (Old World counterpart) lacks spotted underparts even in breeding plumage and has slightly different proportions; ranges rarely overlap.
• Solitary Sandpiper is darker overall with a bold white eye-ring and lacks spots.

Spotted Sandpipers breed along the shores of streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds across most of North America, from the Arctic tree line south through much of the United States. They winter along coastal and inland waters from the southern United States through Central America and into South America.

Voice

A clear, sharp peet-weet or weet-weet-weet call, often given in flight or when flushed.

Feeding

Forages by walking along shorelines picking insects and other small invertebrates from the ground, water's edge, or vegetation, occasionally catching small fish; the constant tail-bobbing behavior continues even while foraging.

Nesting

Unusual among shorebirds, the Spotted Sandpiper frequently exhibits polyandry, where a female may mate with multiple males, each of whom takes primary responsibility for incubating a separate clutch and raising the young. Nests are shallow, grass-lined scrapes near water.