General

Ruff: Large sandpiper with variably colored neck ruff, back and breast. Head is orange-brown; belly is white. Bill is orange with dark, drooped tip. Tail has faint wing stripe and oval white patches that are visible in flight. Female has brown head, dark scaled upperparts; dark bars on brown breast; white belly and undertail coverts. Winter adult has scaled gray upperparts, white belly; yellow legs. Juvenile resembles winter adult but has olive-brown wash over head, neck and breast; buff-fringed, dark brown upperparts and a rufous buff foreneck.

Range and Habitat

Ruff: Breeds in Eurasia; occasionally nests in northwestern Alaska. Winters mainly in Africa; rare but regular migrant to Hawaii, Alaska, and the east coast of North America. Breeds on lowland grassy wet meadows; winters on wet meadows, muddy fringes of pools and lakes, and brackish coastal lagoons.

Breeding and Nesting

Ruff: Four brown spotted, gray green or buff eggs are laid in a shallow ground depression lined with grass. Incubation ranges from 20 to 23 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Ruff: They forage in wet grassland and soft mud, probing or searching by sight for edible items. They primarily feed on insects, especially flies and beetles, as well as mollusks, worms, small fish and frogs. However they do consume some plant material, including rice and maize, and seeds form much of their diet during migration and in winter.

Vocalization

Ruff: Emits a low "tu-wit" when disturbed.

Similar Species

Ruff: Male is unmistakable; Pectoral Sandpiper is distinguished from female by cleaner breast demarcation and pale area behind eye; Buff-breasted Sandpiper is smaller than juvenile Ruff and lacks white belly.