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Sandpipers, Phalaropes, and Allies

65 Bird Species

Eurasian Woodcock

Large, stocky woodland shorebird. Brownish overall. Strongly patterned with bars and stripes to blend in with the forest floor. Patterned brownish head and neck with large dark eye, dark lores and dark stripe below eye. Dark crown with several white bars. Long thick pink bill with darker tip. Brown b more...

Length: 33 cm Wingspan: 55 cm

Far Eastern Curlew

Very large Asian shorebird with an extremely long, decurved dark bill that is pale at the base. Bill longest on female. Unmarked head with darkish lores and white eye arcs. Gray legs. Grayish-brown overall, more reddish brown on back and scapulars, coarse streaks on neck, breast, and wings. Feathers more...

Length: 60 cm Wingspan: 110 cm

Gray-tailed Tattler

This Asian species is very similar to Wandering Tattler. The two are best differentiated by voice. The bill is black, with a pale gray to yellowish base. The legs are dull yellow. The wing tips extend just to the tip of the tail, while the wings of Wandering Tattler extend well beyond the tail. At ex more...

Length: 25 cm Wingspan: 51 cm

Great Knot

This species is a rare visitor from Asia. Alternate Adult: Plumage pattern similar to alternate Surfbird, but more elongated in shape with a longer bill, and dark gray legs. Upperparts dark gray-brown to blackish with pale feather edges and extensive rufous on the scapulars. Underparts white with ext more...

Length: 27 cm Wingspan: cm

Greater Yellowlegs

This species is very similar in pattern to Lesser Yellowlegs, but is larger, with a longer bill, proportionally shorter legs, and a different call. Wingtips extend just beyond the tail. The bill is black (with a variable amount of dull olive at the base), slightly upturned. Bill length is approximate more...

Length: 29 cm Wingspan: 58 cm

Green Sandpiper

Medium-sized sandpiper. Medium length straight black bill with greenish base. Slightly long greenish legs. Breeding Adult: Streaky dark head and neck and a fairly clean white throat. Dark eye with even, white eye ring. Black lores and variable white supercillium in front of eye. Center of the upper b more...

Length: 22 cm Wingspan: 42 cm

Hudsonian Godwit

This species is best differentiated from other godwits by its unique wing pattern. The underside of the wing is black, with a broad diffuse white stripe through the secondaries and inner primaries. The upper surface of the wing is dark, with a thin white stripe through the secondaries, becoming much more...

Length: 36 cm Wingspan: 66 cm

Jack Snipe

This rare visitor from Eurasia is much smaller than other snipes. The bill, dull pinkish with a dark tip, is comparatively short. In flight, the tail is dark and pointed, and the wings are slightly rounded. The upperparts are mottled chestnut and dark glossy green. Two pairs of buffy yellow stripes, more...

Length: 18 cm Wingspan: 38 cm

Least Sandpiper

This is the smallest shorebird. The bill is short and slightly decurved, and comes to a fine point. The short wings show no primary projection, and barely reach the end of the tail. The legs vary from yellowish to greenish straw-colored, but this can be concealed by mud. Alternate Adult: Rich brown a more...

Length: 13 cm Wingspan: 28 cm

Lesser Yellowlegs

This species is patterned like Greater Yellowlegs, but is smaller with a shorter bill, has proportionally longer legs and a different call. In all plumages, the legs are yellow to yellow-orange. Wingtips extend well beyond the tail. The bill is black, straight, and slightly longer than the total leng more...

Length: 23 cm Wingspan: 59 cm

Little Curlew

Small distinctive curlew. Ages and sexes very similar. Pale buffy-brownish head with a dark crown and a broad diffuse whitish supercilium, large dark eye with smudgy dark brown lores. Dark bill with mostly pinkish lower mandible is much shorter and shows less curvature than the bills of other curlews more...

Length: 30 cm Wingspan: 70 cm

Little Stint

This Eurasian species is a rare vagrant to North America. The bill is fairly short and tapered, similar to that of Least Sandpiper. The legs are black. The wing tips extend beyond the tail. In all plumages, the throat is white and unmarked. Alternate Adult: Upperparts have black feather centers with more...

Length: 15 cm Wingspan: 28 cm

Long-billed Curlew

This species, largest among North American shorebirds, resembles a godwit with an extremely long, decurved bill. Adult is sandy-brown overall, heavily patterned with warm brown and black on wings and back. Underparts are relatively unmarked buffy, with fine light streaks on neck. Head is unpatterned more...

Length: 58 cm Wingspan: 89 cm

Long-billed Dowitcher

A mid-sized, chunky shorebird with relatively long, straight bill. Alternate Adult is rufous overall with back and wings heavily patterned with black and rufous, each wing feather edged in white. Black barring extends along undertail coverts, flanks, and sides of neck. Head has dark eyeline and crown more...

Length: 29 cm Wingspan: 48 cm

Long-toed Stint

A small, Asian shorebird; accidental visitor to Pacific Coast of North America. Closely resembles Least Sandpiper, but note more reddish crown, conspicuous supercilium, which broadens behind eye, dark forehead, and white-edged wing coverts. Adults have relatively short yellow legs, and short black bi more...

Length: 15 cm Wingspan: 34 cm

Marbled Godwit

Large, long-legged shorebird with long, nearly straight bill. Alternate Adult is sandy-brown overall, heavily barred with black on underparts, wings, tail, and back. Neck has fine vertical streaks. Head has blackish eyeline and crown. Basic Adult is clean buffy underneath with diffuse head markings. more...

Length: 46 cm Wingspan: 76 cm

Non-vegetated Areas

1 species

Solitary Snipe

Gallinago solitaria

Alpine Slopes, Ponds and Rivers, Streams and Brooks

Salt Water

53 species

Baird's Sandpiper

Calidris bairdii

Beaches, Tidal Mudflats and Shallows, Fresh Water Marshes, Lakes Resevoirs, Alpine Tundra and Meadows

Bar-tailed Godwit

Limosa lapponica

Beaches, Tidal Mudflats and Shallows

Black Turnstone

Arenaria melanocephala

Rocky Shores, Tidal Mudflats and Shallows

Black-tailed Godwit

Limosa limosa

Estuaries and Bays, Tidal Mudflats and Shallows, Fresh Water Marshes, Open Country and Grasslands

Bristle-thighed Curlew

Numenius tahitiensis

Rocky Shores, Beaches, Open Country and Grasslands

Broad-billed Sandpiper

Calidris falcinellus

Tidal Mudflats and Shallows, Fresh Water Marshes, Ponds and Rivers

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Tryngites subruficollis

Beaches, Tidal Mudflats and Shallows, Fresh Water Marshes, Open Country and Grasslands

Common Greenshank

Tringa nebularia

Beaches, Tidal Mudflats and Shallows, Fresh Water Marshes, Lakes Resevoirs, Ponds and Rivers

Common Redshank

Tringa totanus

Estuaries and Bays, Tidal Mudflats and Shallows, Fresh Water Marshes

Common Sandpiper

Actitis hypoleucos

Rocky Shores, Beaches, Tidal Mudflats and Shallows, Fresh Water Marshes, Lakes Resevoirs, Ponds and Rivers, Streams and Brooks

Common Snipe

Gallinago gallinago

Saltmarshes, Fresh Water Marshes

Curlew Sandpiper

Calidris ferruginea

Beaches, Tidal Mudflats and Shallows, Fresh Water Marshes, Lakes Resevoirs

Dunlin

Calidris alpina

Beaches, Tidal Mudflats and Shallows, Fresh Water Marshes, Lakes Resevoirs

Eskimo Curlew

Numenius borealis

Tidal Mudflats and Shallows, Saltmarshes, Open Country and Grasslands