Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria)

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A Field Guide to Eastern Birds. by Roger Tory Peterson.

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Color Photograph: U.S. National Park Service

Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria)

Identification: Length from tip of bill to tip of tail 8.5 inches. A small, long legged bird with dark olive-green legs. Overall coloration gray spotted with white. Bill long and narrow, straight. Eye with a conspicuous white ring around it. Underside white with gray spots. Tail white with prominent black bars, although the bars may only be visible when the bird is flying.

Similar Species:  The Solitary Sandpiper can be told from its close relatives the Greater Yellowlegs and the Lesser Yellowlegs by its olive-green (not yellow) legs and the distinctive white ring around the eye. The Stilt Sandpiper is brownish, not gray during the breeding season and has a white band over its eye. The tip of its bill curves downward and its tail is not banded. The Spotted Sandpiper has a white band over its eye and the underside is heavily spotted with round, black spots.

Breeding Range (see map below): The Solitary Sandpiper breeds throughout the northern boreal forest of Canada and Alaska.

Overwintering Range:  This species overwinters in the New World Tropics.

Habitat: The Solitary Sandpiper is found in a variety of wetlands including bogs, swamps, marshes, and ponds.

Food: Mostly aquatic insects.

Behavior: The name of this bird is based on its preference to forage along rather than in groups. The voice is a high, pitched, slightly shrill peet-weet.

Reproduction:  The clutch consists of 4 brown spotted light green or tan eggs. The eggs are laid in an abandoned nest of larger birds such as blackbirds and thrushes.