Upland Sandpiper

Bartramia longicauda

Order CHARADRIIFORMES - Family SCOLOPACIDAE - Subfamily Scolopacinae

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A shorebird of grasslands, not shores, the Upland Sandpiper inhabits native prairie and other open grassy areas in North America. Once abundant in the Great Plains, it has undergone steady population declines since the mid-19th century, because of hunting and loss of habitat.

Cool Facts

• The Upland Sandpiper begins southward migration unusually early, beginning in mid-July. It spends up to eight months of the year in its winter home in South America, during the austral summer.
• In several northeastern states, the majority of nesting Upland Sandpipers live on the grounds of airports.

• Upland Sandpiper pairs scrape out multiple depressions in the ground, but use only one for their actual nest.

Description

• Size: 28-32 cm (11-13 in)
• Wingspan: 47 cm (19 in)
• Weight: 97-226 g (3.42-7.98 ounces)

• Medium-sized sandpiper.
• Small head.
• Long neck.
• Straight bill.
• Long legs.
• Large eyes.

• Dull olive-buff upperparts with brown and buff pattern.
• Buff neck and breast with dark streaks.
• White belly.
• Usually holds wings up briefly after alighting on post or ground.
• Outer half of upper wing dark; inner half light.
• Bill yellowish, with blackish on top.
• Eyes dark brown.
• Legs yellow.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Immature

Juvenile similar to adult, but with pale edges to back feathers.

Similar Species

• Buff-breasted Sandpiper is much smaller and has plain unstreaked underparts.
• American Golden-Plover has a shorter neck, shorter bill, and black legs.

Sound

Song a long series of mellow notes, starting with a gurgling rising trill and ending with a long descending whistle; final whistle sounds to some like a "wolf-whistle." Flight call is a bubbling "quip-ip-ip-ip-ip-ip-ip-ip."

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds from south-central Canada through the Great Plains to northern Oklahoma, and eastward to portions of New York and New England. Also breeds in isolated portions of Alaska, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories.

Winter Range

Winters in South America east of the Andes, from Suriname to Argentina.

Habitat

Native prairie and other dry grasslands, including airports and some croplands.

Food

Mostly insects, including weevils and other beetles, grasshoppers, and crickets. Also some weed seeds.

Behavior

Foraging

Feeds while walking along the ground.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Scrape in the ground; may be completely unlined, or built up with leaves and twigs.

Egg Description

Buff with dark spotting.

Clutch Size

Usually 4 eggs. Range: 2-7.

Condition at Hatching

Downy and active, capable of leaving nest and feeding themselves almost immediately after hatching.

Conservation Status

Once very abundant and widespread within its range, the Upland Sandpiper is now uncommon, and continues to show alarming population declines. The species was once prized as a delicacy, both for its flesh and its eggs; hunting continued until well after the passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty in 1918. Hunting in the West Indies remains a conservation concern. Conversion of native grasslands to croplands in both North and South America has also caused populations to fall.

Other Names

Maubèche des champs (French)
Batitú, Zarapito ganga (Spanish)
Bartramian Sandpiper, Upland Plover (English)

Sources used to construct this page:

Houston, C. S., and D. E. Bowen, Jr. 2001. Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda). In The Birds of North America, No. 580 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.