The spotted sandpiper is about 7 to 8 inches (17.8–20.3 cm) in length with a wingspan of 14.6-15.8 inches (37-40 cm).
It has a white line over its eyes and long yellowish or pinkish legs. During the breeding season, it is brown above and white below with dark brown spots on its chest and belly. Its bill is a bright orange with a black tip.
In the winter, the spotted sandpiper has a grayish-brown back and sides and a spotless white breast. Its bill is yellow with a black tip.
Male and female spotted sandpipers look alike, but the female is a little larger.
The spotted sandpiper lives on the edges of freshwater sources like ponds, streams and rivers, and lakes.
In winter, it is found in shallow, muddy lagoons, creeks, canals, and mudflats. It is also found on beaches.
The spotted sandpiper probes for a variety of insects and other small invertebrates, including fly larvae, grasshoppers and crickets, beetles, spiders, worms, crustaceans, and mollusks. It also catches insects in the air.
Unlike most species of birds, the female spotted sandpiper reaches the breeding range before the male and selects and defends a territory. She then tries to attract a male.
The female lays 4 eggs in a grass and moss-lined nest made in a depression in the ground. The female may mate with more than one male, and she may lay eggs for each of them.
The male incubates the eggs and cares for the chicks. The chicks hatch in 20-24 days. They are precocial and leave the nest shortly after birth, hopping around looking for food. They fledge (develop flight feathers) when they are 17-21 days old.
The spotted sandpiper has a lifespan of around 9 years.
The spotted sandpiper is sometimes called the “teeter-tail” because of the way it bobs its rump up and down as it probes for food.
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The spotted sandpiper breeds in New Hampshire.
The spotted sandpiper breeds across most of Canada and the United States.
It winters along the Pacific Coast in the west.
In the east, it winters along the Atlantic Coast of the southern United States south to South America.
