The white-rumped sandpiper is a small shorebird 6-7 inches (15.2-17.8 cm) in length with a 16-17 inch (40.6-43.2 cm) wingspan.
It has a short, pointed, black bill; a white stripe over its eyes; long black legs; a medium-sized neck; and a brown back marked with black. It has a brown-streaked breast and a white belly and rump.
Its pointed wingtips extend beyond its tail when it is at rest. In the non-breeding season, it is grayish-brown. Males and females look alike.
The white-rumped sandpiper forages on the ground or in the water for food. It eats insects, larvae, seeds, worms, mollusks, and crustaceans.
The female white-rumped sandpiper lays 4 eggs in a grass-lined depression in the ground. The female incubates the eggs for 20-21 days. The chicks fledge (develop flight feathers) at 16-17 days old.
The white-rumped sandpiper can live up to years in the wild.
The white-rumped sandpiper is a long-distance migrator. It migrates in large flocks from the Arctic regions of Canada and Alaska to Argentina at the tip of South America.
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The white-rumped sandpiper does not breed in New Hampshire, but it can be spotted in the state during its migration.
The white-rumped sandpiper breeds across extreme northern Alaska and Canada.
It migrates through eastern and central Canada and the eastern and central United States.
It winters in extreme southern South America.
