Baird's sandpiper
Calidris bairdii
Identification Tips:
- Small shorebird
- Short, thin, dark bill
- Black legs
- Black patch on rump extending onto tail
- Thin, white wing stripe
- Long wings
- Sexes similar
Adult alternate:
- Pale brown head with dark streaks
- Pale supercilium
- Black back feathers and wing coverts with pale brown edges
- Pale brown breast with fine streaks
- White underparts
Adult basic:
- Upperparts pale gray with black feather centers
- Dark gray-brown breast with fine dark streaks
- White underparts
- Indistinct white supercilium with darker crown and eyeline
Juvenile:
- Black-based back feathers and wing coverts with pale brown edges giving
a scaly look
- Pale brown breast with fine dark spots
- White underparts
Similar species:
The Baird's Sandpiper is one of a group of very similar small shorebirds
called "peeps". It appears browner than all but the Least Sandpiper. The
Least Sandpiper is smaller, with shorter wings, and yellow legs. The
White-rumped Sandpiper is most similar in size, but has a white rump and is
grayer. Pectoral Sandpiper is also brown, but has yellow legs and a very
abrupt demarcation between the dark chest and white belly.