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Spotted Sandpiper

Actitis macularius

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernInvertebratesWetlandPlatform nestSmall · 40 g
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius), photo 1
Photo: Becky Matsubara from El Sobrante, California · CC BY 2.0
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius), photo 2
Photo: Hobbyfotowiki · CC0
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius), photo 3
Photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius), photo 4
Photo: Steven Smethurst · CC0
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius), photo 5
Photo: Daniel S. Katz · CC BY 4.0
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius), photo 6
Photo: Daniel S. Katz · CC BY 4.0
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius), photo 7
Photo: Becky Matsubara from El Sobrante, California · CC BY 2.0
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius), photo 8
Photo: Hobbyfotowiki · CC0
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius), photo 9
Photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius), photo 10
Photo: Andrew C · CC BY 2.0

What the Spotted Sandpiper sounds like

Sonogram of the Spotted Sandpiper: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Gean Carlo Valdés · Call · Islas secas, Panama · CC0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Spotted Sandpiper: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Gean Carlo Valdés · Song · Islas secas, Panama · CC0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Spotted Sandpiper: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Doug Hynes · Call · Guyon Island, Unama’ki, Nova Scotia, Canada · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

Adults have short yellowish legs and an orange bill with a dark tip. The body is brown on top and white underneath with black spots. These spots vary in degree over the course of spotted sandpipers' lives, becoming especially prevalent around the breeding season. The overall health of spotted sandpipers may be suggested by the "spottiness" of an individual. Generally, females with more "spottiness" were healthier than those who did not have as many spots. The condition of males based on the amount of spots they exhibit is yet to be determined.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Spotted Sandpiper

One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 8 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is May, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Spotted Sandpiper

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 63 countries with regular records, and 9 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

United States Canada Mexico Costa Rica Colombia Belize Panama Peru Ecuador Puerto Rico Honduras Guatemala Brazil Venezuela Cuba Nicaragua Trinidad & Tobago Guadeloupe El Salvador Bahamas Barbados Bermuda Curaçao U.S. Virgin Islands Portugal Dominican Republic Jamaica Cayman Islands Aruba Guyana Caribbean Netherlands Grenada Chile St. Martin French Guiana Bolivia United Kingdom Uruguay Suriname Montserrat Sweden Antigua & Barbuda Anguilla St. Vincent & Grenadines Haiti Martinique St. Lucia Argentina St. Kitts & Nevis Turks & Caicos Islands Dominica British Virgin Islands St. Pierre & Miquelon Paraguay Spain Norway Germany Ireland St. Barthélemy Switzerland Poland Iceland Cape Verde

Recorded as a rare visitor in France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Morocco, Falkland Islands, Czechia, Estonia.

About the Spotted Sandpiper

The spotted sandpiper is a small shorebird. Together with its sister species the common sandpiper, it makes up the genus Actitis. They replace each other geographically; stray birds may settle down with breeders of the other species and hybridize.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucosThe adult is 18–20 cm (7.1–7.9 in) long with a 32–35 cm (13–14 in) wingspan.

Side by side: Common Sandpiper vs Spotted Sandpiper

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