Bird Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ birds — with size, habitat, diet, voice, behavior, and the field marks that tell them apart.
Pectoral Sandpiper
A medium-sized, long-necked sandpiper with a sharply demarcated streaked breast band, favoring wet grassy meadows over open mudflats.
shorebird
Semipalmated Sandpiper
A small, gray-brown sandpiper with a short, straight bill and partially webbed toes, famous for forming massive migratory flocks at coastal staging sites.
shorebird
Least Sandpiper
The smallest shorebird in the world, a tiny brown sandpiper best distinguished from its similar relatives by its greenish-yellow legs.
shorebird
Curlew Sandpiper
A graceful sandpiper with a long, evenly curved bill and, in breeding plumage, a rich brick-red body unlike any other small sandpiper.
shorebird
Wood Sandpiper
A slim, spotted Eurasian sandpiper with a bright pale eyebrow, often found in small groups around shallow freshwater marshes and flooded grassland.
shorebird
Western Sandpiper
A tiny, abundant sandpiper with a longer, slightly drooped bill than its similar peep relatives, forming vast flocks at key coastal stopover sites.
shorebird
Solitary Sandpiper
A dark, bold-eyed sandpiper of shaded pond edges that, true to its name, is almost always seen alone rather than in flocks.
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Spotted Sandpiper
A small, constantly bobbing sandpiper of North American shorelines, easily recognized in breeding plumage by the bold dark spots covering its white underparts.
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Green Sandpiper
A dark, sharply contrasting Eurasian sandpiper that flushes explosively from small woodland pools with a loud, ringing call and a bold white rump.
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Common Sandpiper
The Old World counterpart of the Spotted Sandpiper, a small, constantly bobbing shorebird found along rivers, streams, and lakes across Europe, Asia, and Africa.
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Greater Yellowlegs
A tall, elegant sandpiper with bright yellow legs and a loud, ringing alarm call that has earned it the nickname "telltale."
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Common Greenshank
The Old World counterpart of the Greater Yellowlegs, a tall gray sandpiper with long greenish legs and a distinctive upturned bill.
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Lesser Yellowlegs
A slim, delicate sandpiper with bright yellow legs, essentially a smaller, daintier version of the Greater Yellowlegs with a shorter, straighter bill.
shorebird
Red Knot
A chunky, robust sandpiper renowned for one of the longest migrations of any bird, famously refueling on horseshoe crab eggs at Delaware Bay.
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Golden Whistler
A striking, stocky songbird whose males wear a bold black, white, and golden-yellow pattern and deliver a loud, ringing whistled song.
songbird
Ruff
A striking, highly dimorphic sandpiper whose males grow ornate, colorful neck ruffs and head tufts for elaborate communal courtship displays at a lek.
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Willet
A plain gray-brown sandpiper that transforms in flight, flashing a bold black-and-white wing pattern unlike any other North American shorebird.
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Short-billed Dowitcher
A medium-large sandpiper with a long, straight bill and a distinctive rapid up-and-down probing action likened to a sewing machine, favoring coastal habitats.
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Sanderling
The pale, plump little sandpiper that chases retreating waves on sandy beaches worldwide, running like a wind-up toy to snatch food from the wet sand.
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Common Redshank
A medium-sized, noisy sandpiper of European wetlands, nicknamed "the warden of the marshes" for its loud alarm calls, and easily told by its bright orange-red legs.
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Dunlin
A medium-small sandpiper with a distinctive drooped bill tip and, in breeding plumage, a bold black belly patch, often seen in large swirling flocks over mudflats.
shorebird