Medium large. Small head, dove-like with large eyes, long thin neck, long legs, long tail, long wings. Bill, slightly decurved. Looks like a sandpiper but behaves like a plover. Sexes alike.
Adults: Upperparts, pale brown, mottled darker, paler around the eye, throat and underparts. Eye, large, dark brown. Eyering, white. Crown, dark. Tail, longish and pointed, barred black at edges. Wing coverts, brownish with narrow white trailing edges, contrasting with black wingtips. Underwing, boldly barred black and white. Rump, center of tail, dark in center, pale at sides. Bill, dark at the tip, yellow toward the base. Legs, dull yellow.
Other Names (World)
Upland Sandpiper, Upland Plover, Bartram's Sandpiper
Family
Scolopacidae (Sandpipers, Snipes, Phalaropes)
Argentina, Aruba, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada (B), Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay (NB), USA (B), Venezuela.
Vagrant to Antarctica, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska), Cuba, Denmark, Dominica, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), France, Gabon, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Malta, Mauritania, Montserrat, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, St Helena, St Pierre and Miquelon (P), United Kingdom, Virgin Islands (British), Virgin Islands (U.S.).
Unknown to Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Haiti, Martinique, Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Turks and Caicos Islands.
Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) [XC299689]
by Paul Marvin from Grand River NG (near Lodgepole), Perkins County, South Dakota, United States (call)
Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) [XC438796]
by Fernando Igor de Godoy from Reserva Natural Palmar\u00ed, Rio Javar\u00ed, AM, Brazil (flight call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. Breeds in North America.
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M
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Subspecies
No subspecies.
Similar Species
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Calidris acuminata)
Much smaller. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Crown, dull chestnut. Eyebrow, white and long. Neck, legs, shorter. Underwing is white. Sides of rump, white.
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)
Much smaller. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Eyebrow, white and long. Neck, legs, shorter. Underwing is white. Sides of rump, white.
Ruff (Calidris pugnax)
Smaller. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Bill, longer, less decurved, yellowish only at base. Head, neck, plainer, buff grey. In flight, pale wing bar is visible, and underwing is wholly white, unbarred, large white ovals are visible on sides of rump, and legs extend beyond the tail tip.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet