Pectoral sandpiper
Calidris melanotos
Identification Tips:
- Medium-sized shorebird
- Medium-sized, thin, dark bill
- Yellow legs
- Black patch on rump extending onto tail
- Thin, white wing stripe
- Sexes similar
Adult alternate:
- Brown head with dark streaks
- Pale supercilium
- Black back feathers and wing coverts with brown edges
- Brown breast with fine streaks ending abruptly and contrasting with
white underparts
Adult basic:
- Similar to adult alternate
- Upperparts a duller brown
Juvenile:
- Similar to adult alternate
- Back feathers and wing coverts with pale brown, rust, or golden edges
- White 'V's on back
- Dark rusty crown
Similar species:
With its abrupt demarcation between the brown breast and the white
underparts and yellow legs, the Pectoral Sandpiper is quite distinctive. It
is larger than the peeps but shorter-billed and shorter-legged than dowitchers,
yellowlegs, and Stilt Sandpipers. The rare Sharp-tailed Sandpiper is quite
similar, but has more markings on the flanks. Juveniles have a redder crown
and a more obvious supercilium.