General

Buff-breasted Sandpiper: Medium-sized sandpiper with buff wash over entire body except for white vent. Upperparts are black-spotted and streaked, while underparts are slightly scaled. Shows white wing linings in flight. Also has white eye-ring and black bill. Legs are yellow. Sexes are similar. Juvenile has paler underparts.

Range and Habitat

Buff-breasted Sandpiper: Breeds in Alaska and western Canadian Arctic, migrating through the midwest and occurring rarely on the Atlantic or Pacific coasts. Preferred habitats include grasslands and prairies, plowed fields, turf farms, wet rice fields; nests on Arctic tundra.

Breeding and Nesting

Buff-breasted Sandpiper: Four white, buff, or olive eggs with brown blotches are laid on the ground in a small cup of vegetation lined with grass or moss. Incubation ranges from 19 to 21 days and is carried out by the female; young fly at about 21 days old.

Foraging and Feeding

Buff-breasted Sandpiper: Diet includes insects, spiders, and seeds. Usually forages on the ground in grassy fields; rarely forages beside water.

Vocalization

Buff-breasted Sandpiper: During migration, utters a soft hoarse call "pr-r-r-reet." During courtship makes quick clucking sounds.

Similar Species

Buff-breasted Sandpiper: Upland Sandpiper and juvenile Ruff have marked underparts and lack white wing linings in flight.