White-rumped Sandpiper

White-rumped Sandpiper, breeding adult; Texas, May

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Foraging White-rumped Sandpiper, non-breeding adult; September; Long Is., NY

Foraging White-rumped Sandpiper, September; Long Is., NY

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

Unique among the small sandpipers known as "peeps," the White-rumped Sandpiper shows white above the base of the tail. Its striking rump, along with its distinctive call note, make it readily identifiable in the midst of a flock of flying small shorebirds.

Description

Small to medium-sized sandpiper. Short neck. Moderately long straight bill. Moderately long legs. Long wings extend past end of tail on resting bird. Large white patch at base of tail. Underparts white, with find dark streaks on pale gray breast. Black chevron marks on flanks in breeding plumage. Back mostly gray in nonbreeding plumage, mixed gray and warm brown in breeding plumage.

• Size: 15-18 cm (6-7 in)
• Wingspan: 40-44 cm (16-17 in)
• Weight: 40-60 g (1.41-2.12 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Sound

Call a metallic "tzeep," like the scraping of two pebbles.

Conservation Status

Relatively common. No information on population trends.

Other Names

Lecasseau de Bonaparte (French)
Correlimos de Bonaparte, Chichicuilote rabadilla blanca (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• The White-rumped Sandpiper actually has dark rump feathers. The white feathers at the base of the tail are the upper tail coverts, special feathers that cover the base of the stiff tail feathers.

• The White-rumped Sandpiper has one of the longest migration routes of any American bird, breeding in Arctic Canada and wintering in southern South America. Southbound migrants fly over the Atlantic ocean from northeastern North America to South America, then gradually move southeast along the coast before turning inland go across the Amazon Basin, travel requiring about one month.

Sources used to construct this page:

Parmelee, D. F. 1992. White-rumped Sandpiper. In The Birds of North America, No. 29 (A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: The American Ornithologists? Union.