General

Baird's Sandpiper: Medium-sized sandpiper with scaled, gray-brown upperparts and white underparts except for dark-spotted, gray-brown breast. Crown, face, and neck are buff with fine, dark brown streaks. Rump is white with dark central stripe extending through the center of gray-brown tail. Sexes are similar. Winter adult is grayer and has fewer streaks. Juvenile is similar to breeding adult but with scaled appearance on back highlighted by white-edged feathers.

Range and Habitat

Baird's Sandpiper: Breeds in the Arctic from eastern Siberia and Alaska to northwestern Greenland. Spends winters in South America, migrating mostly through the interior of North America; uncommon on Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Preferred habitats include freshwater marshes, riverbanks, and lakesides; less frequent on coastal and brackish marshes and adjacent grasslands.

Breeding and Nesting

Baird's Sandpiper: Four dark brown-spotted, pink to olive eggs are laid in a small hollow on dry tundra. Both parents incubate eggs for 22 days. Young fly in 16 to 20 days.

Foraging and Feeding

Baird's Sandpiper: Diet consists primarily of insects, spiders, and small crustaceans; forages by picking food items off relatively dry substrates such as baked mud, sand, or grass.

Vocalization

Baird's Sandpiper: Call is a low, raspy "kreeep."

Similar Species

Baird's Sandpiper: Least Sandpiper is smaller and has yellow-green legs. Semipalmated Sandpiper has grayer breast. White-rumped Sandpiper has white rump.