Upland Sandpiper
Bartramia longicauda
Distinctive sandpiper found in areas with short grass. Frequently seen perched on fence posts or atop small shrubs. Overall patterned buffy-brown with small head, long neck, large eye, and yellow bill with black tip. Long tail and shallow fluttery wingbeats give it a unique look in flight. Song typically given in flight; starts with a soft gurgling trill and ends with a loud whistle that rises and falls. Migrates to South America in the winter, particularly Paraguay and northern Argentina.
Identification
An adult is roughly 30 cm (12 in) long with a 66 cm (26 in) wingspan. The average weight is 170 g (6 oz). This odd bird has a small dove-like head on a long neck. It is heavily marbled black and brown on the back and wings. The neck is streaked with dark brown which continues down to the breast and on to the flanks. The belly and undertail coverts are white. The tail is quite long for a sandpiper. The upland also sports a white eye-ring and long yellow legs.
Taxonomy
Genus: Bartramia; Family: Scolopacidae; Order: Charadriiformes.
- Scientific name
- Bartramia longicauda
- Authority
- (Bechstein, 1812)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Scolopacidae
- Genus
- Bartramia
Range and habitat
Even though they are sandpipers, they prefer open country with tall grasses to coastal habitat. They are also found at airports, blueberry farms and abandoned strip mines in the east. Their true core range and habitat is in the northern midwest United States. They breed from eastern Alaska south east of the Rocky Mountains through Montana to northern Oklahoma and then northeast to Pennsylvania, New England and extreme southern Quebec and Ontario. There are also local breeding populations in northeast Oregon and west central Idaho. They winter in northeastern Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil. It is an extremely rare vagrant to the South Pacific, with one record each from Australia and New Zealand.
- Breeding range
- NA : inland grassland of subarctic to n temperate Neotropics: n to se Alaska and nw Canada, e to se Canada and New England, in s to e Oregon, ne Oklahoma and in se to Pennsylvania (ec USA)
- Non-breeding range
- inland grassland of subtropical to temperate s South America: mainly s Paraguay, s Brazil, Uruguay and wc to ec Argentina
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: rising.
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
White-eyed Slaty-Flycatcher
Melaenornis fischeri
Large, long-tailed flycatcher. The wing and tail are dark gray and the head and underparts paler gray. In the northern portion of the range, shows a huge pale eye-ring; in the south and west, shows a much narrower, grayish eye-ring. Found in montane habitats including forest edge, woodland, and gardens. Often in pairs. Vocalizations include high-pitched whistles and scratchy notes. Subspecies without a bold eye-ring are somewhat like African Dusky Flycatcher, but are larger and grayer. Other gray flycatchers are unlikely to be found in montane habitats.
White-capped Albatross
Thalassarche cauta
A medium-sized dark-backed albatross with pale underwings outlined by a narrow dark border and a dark notch in the armpit. The adult has a whitish head with grayish cheeks that give it a “white-capped” appearance. The gray-green bill has a yellowish tip to both mandibles. Juveniles are grayer on the head with gray bills. The species breeds on islands off Tasmania and New Zealand but disperses widely across the southern Oceans between 15 and 60°S, where it is a frequently encountered pelagic seabird. Similar albatrosses have a dark-tipped (not pale-tipped) lower half to the bill, and Salvin’s Albatross has a pale gray head and Chatham Albatross a slaty-gray head, further differentiating them from White-capped Albatross. Juveniles of these three are very difficult to separate.
Peruvian Diving-Petrel
Pelecanoides garnotii
Very small diving seabird sometimes seen from shore, at time in small groups. Plumage is blackish above and whitish below; narrow whitish “braces” sometimes visible. Swims low in the water and usually dives when approached or runs along the water to fly away from boats. Flight is low and fast over the sea, with rapid “whirring” wingbeats; does not glide. Only diving-petrel in Humboldt Current.
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