UNCLASSIFIED // FOR BIRDERS ONLY

Target folder // BAISAN

Baird's Sandpiper

Calidris bairdii · Scolopacidae (sandpipers and allies)

Baird's Sandpiper standing on a pebbly shore, showing its long wings, scaly brown back, and black legs.
Photo: Stephan Sprinz, CC BY 4.0

A long-winged "peep" that passes through in migration. Check the wingtips: on a Baird's they reach past the tail.

ID Features

  • Small sandpiper, about 5 to 6 inches long, with black legs and a short, straight, thin dark bill.
  • Long wings reach past the tail when it stands. Only White-rumped Sandpiper also shows this, and it has a white rump patch.
  • Dark brown above and mainly white below, with a light brown, streaked head and breast and a black rump patch.
  • Fall juveniles have a buff-brown head and a scaly-looking back.
  • In migration it often picks drier, more open spots than other small sandpipers, such as sandy shores and nearby grassy areas.

Signals

More recordings: xeno-canto · Macaulay Library

Where and When

Clark County, NV
Migrant, rareShores, mudflats, and flooded fields in migration, often on the drier, sandier edges.Source: Clark County Wetlands Park bird list (Clark County Parks and Recreation, rev. March 2019): migrant, rare. Status from one park's list, not survey data. For week-by-week detail, see eBird's Clark County bar chart.

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