White-rumped sandpiper Calidris fuscicollis

Identification Tips:

• Small shorebird
• Short, thin, dark bill slightly decurved
• Black legs
• White rump
• Thin, white wing stripe
• Long wings
• Sexes similar

Adult alternate:

• Brownish tinge to crown and face
• Pale supercilium
• Black back feathers and wing coverts with gray edges
• Streaked breast and flanks
• White underparts

Adult basic:

• Upperparts dark gray with black feather centers
• Dark gray breast
• White underparts
• White supercilium with darker crown and eyeline

Juvenile:

• Black-based back feathers and wing coverts with brown edges to scapulars and whiter edges to wing coverts
• White "V" on back
• Finely streaked breast
• White underparts
• White supercilium with brownish crown and pale face

Similar species:

The White-rumped Sandpiper is one of a group of very similar small shorebirds called "peeps". In flight, it can be differentiated from the other species by its white rump. At rest, it is larger and noticeably longer-winged than all but the Baird's Sandpiper. In alternate plumage, it is more heavily streaked than the other species, especially on the flanks. In basic plumage, the upperparts and breast are much darker than the other peeps. The Baird's Sanpiper is a paler brown in all plumages.