Guide to Boreal Birds
Sandpiper-like Birds Overview
Often associated with dowitchers and yellowlegs, Stilt Sandpipers resemble both species and appear to be intermediate between the two. Yellowlegs move about continually in nervous, jerky motions, and dowitchers feed slowly, probing deep into the mud. Stilt Sandpipers move like yellowlegs but cover more ground, while feeding deliberately like dowitchers.
Description
8 1/2" (22 cm). A starling-sized sandpiper with long greenish legs and long bill, slightly down-curved at tip. Wings lack stripe. Breeding adult has chestnut head stripes and barring below. Nonbreeding birds have much paler plumage and a white line over the eye.
Voice
Simple tu-tu, similar to call of Lesser Yellowlegs.
Nesting
4 pale buff eggs, marked with brown, on open ground in a grass tussock near water.
Habitat
Grassy pools and shores of ponds and lakes.
Range/Migration
Breeds in northern Alaska and northern Canada east to Hudson Bay. Winters in small numbers in southern California's Salton Sea, Gulf Coast, and Florida.