Breeding throughout most of North America, this species is easily recognized by its bobbing tail motion, its boldly spotted pattern, and its fluttering flight style. The tail extends well beyond the wing tips. The legs are yellowish. Alternate Adult: Dull olive-brown upperparts with limited blackish barring. The underparts are bright white with bold black spots. The head shows a white supercilium, black eye line, and an orange bill with dark tip. Basic Adult: Upperparts are plain dull brown, extending along the sides of the breast. Underparts are unmarked white. The supercilium and eye line are much less distinct than in alternate plumage. The bill is mostly dark, with dull yellow at the base. Juvenile: Similar to Basic Adult, but with black and buff barring on the wing coverts. In flight: A white stripe is obvious in the center portion of the wing, but does not extend to the base of the wing.

Length: 18 (cm) Wingspan: 33 (cm)

Voice:

Call is an ascending pweet, or pweet pweet. Display song is a stuttering totototweet, totototweet.

Habitat:

Freshwater lakes, streams, marshes.

Behavior:

Constantly bobs tail. When flushed, flies low over the water with shallow, fluttering wingbeats followed by a glide, with wings held low.

Feeding:

Feeds on aquatic invertebrates, insects, carrion, small fish.