Solitary Sandpiper
Tringa solitaria
Medium-sized shorebird. Gray above and white below, with fine white speckling on wings and bold white spectacles. Note dark underwing and dark rump in flight. Smaller and shorter-legged than Lesser Yellowlegs, with duller greenish legs. Often alone, but multiple individuals may gather loosely in appropriate habitat. Tips body like Spotted Sandpiper, but less constantly and not as quick and dramatic. Breeds around ponds and marshes in the boreal forest; uses old songbird nests in trees, unlike most other shorebirds. In migration and winter, mostly seen on small bodies of water like muddy ponds, lake edges, and slow-moving streams. Extensive winter range throughout Central and South America. Listen for piercing, high-pitched “tsee-weet!” call.
Identification
This species measures 18–23 cm (7.1–9.1 in) long, with a wingspan up to 50 cm (20 in) and a body mass of 31–65 g (1.1–2.3 oz). It is a dumpy wader with a dark green back, greyish head and breast and otherwise white underparts. It is obvious in flight, with wings dark above and below, and a dark rump and tail centre. The latter feature distinguishes it from the slightly larger and broader-winged, but otherwise very similar, green sandpiper (T. ochropus) of Europe and Asia, to which it is closely related. The latter species has a brilliant white rump. In flight, the solitary sandpiper has a characteristic three-note whistle. They both have brown wings with little light dots, and a delicate but contrasting neck and chest pattern. In addition, both species nest in trees, unlike most other scolopacids.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Tringa solitaria
- Authority
- Wilson, A, 1813
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Scolopacidae
- Genus
- Tringa
Range and habitat
It breeds in woodlands across Alaska and Canada. It is a migratory bird, wintering in Central and South America, especially in the Amazon River basin, and the Caribbean. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe, and goes there in the summer–autumn period. <p>The solitary sandpiper is split into two subspecies:
- Breeding range
- NA : subarctic to temperate zone taiga muskeg of Nearctic: Alaska mainland (except far n), nw to sw Canada, e s of Hudson and James bays and n of Great Lakes to e Quebec (at least)
- Non-breeding range
- MA, SA, Caribbean : inland subtropical to tropical small wetlands of Neotropics: wc Mexico, s Texas, and throughout the Caribbean to c Peru and nc Argentina
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
As its name indicates, the solitary sandpiper is not a gregarious species, usually seen alone during migration, although sometimes small numbers congregate in suitable feeding areas. The solitary sandpiper is very much a bird of fresh water, and is often found in sites, such as ditches, too restricted for other waders, which tend to like a clear all-round view.<p>The sandpiper lays a clutch of 3–5 eggs in abandoned tree nests of songbird species, such as those of thrushes. The young birds are encouraged to drop to the ground soon after hatching.<p>Food is small invertebrates: insects (such as mosquito larvae, young midges, grasshoppers, caterpillars and beetles), small crustaceans and molluscs (such as snails extracted from their shells), sometimes small frogs (primarily as tadpoles), picked off the mud as the bird works steadily around the edges of its chosen pond.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Leucocarbo atriceps
Very striking cormorant readily identified by white neck. Locally common black-and-white cormorant of colder coastal waters. Often seen perched on inshore rocks and jetties, sometimes with Magellanic Cormorant. Nests colonially on low islands (rarely in lakes inland from coast) and jetties. Plumage varies regionally, with some birds black-faced and others white-faced; the two types breed together locally in the Strait of Magellan. Immature resembles adult but plumage duller overall, brownish above.
Gray Falcon
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Barred Cuckooshrike
Coracina lineata
Medium-sized slender bird with a short, pointed bill and bold yellow eye. Slaty gray except for white lower belly and undertail with fine gray barring. Usually seen high up in fruiting trees (often fig trees). Inhabits rainforest in New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and tropical and subtropical east coast of Australia.
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