Solitary sandpiper
Tringa solitaria
Identification Tips:
- Fairly small, long-legged shorebird
- Greenish legs
- Bold white eye ring
- Dark rump
- Dark tail has black bars on the white outer tail feathers
- Dark underwing
- Sexes similar
- Juvenile similar to basic-plumaged adult
- Usually solitary, often bobs tail
Adult alternate:
- Head, neck, and chest streaked with dark brown and white
- Dark brown back and upperwings with small white spots
- White belly
- Whitish supraloral stripe, dark lores
Adult basic:
- Smooth gray-brown head and neck fading to white belly
- Gray-brown back speckled with white
Similar species:
Yellowlegs are similar but have yellow (not green) legs and
white rumps, visible in flight. Spotted Sandpiper has a white wing
stripe visible in flight and a dark back without white spots. Two European
species, the Green Sandpiper and the Wood Sandpiper are easily
separated by tail pattern, underwing color and head pattern.