| Spotted Sandpiper Identification Tips |
| (Credit: U. S. Geological Survey) |
| General
Information - Fairly small, short-legged shorebird - Yellowish or pinkish legs - White wingstripe visible in flight - Teeters tail when feeding and walking - Distinctive, stiff winged, fluttery flight on bowed wings - Sexes similar - Juvenile similar to basic-plumaged adult Adult alternate - Orange bill with a black tip - Pale supercilium and dark eyeline - Brown head, hindneck, back, and upperwings with small black bars - White throat, breast and belly with bold black spots Adult basic - Variably dark bill with pale base - Pale brown head with dark eyeline and pale supercilium - Plain dark back, upperwings with dark and buff bars - Sides of breast brown, with finger of white extending up in front of leading edge of wing when at rest - Throat, breast, and belly white, without dark spots Similar species Solitary Sandpiper is larger and has a bold eyering, no wing stripe, white-spotted upperparts and a different flight style. The Eurasian Common Sandpiper, a rare migrant, is very similar to basic and juvenile-plumaged Spotted Sandpipers. The Spotted Sandpiper has a shorter tail, shorter white wing stripe, more barred wing coverts and, as a juvenile, tertials that are marked with buff only at the tip. |
| Return to Spotted Sandpiper page |
