Medium small. Small round head, with a short, fine, bill. Plover-like. Sexes alike.
Adults: Bill, short, straight, black. Eyering, pale. Breeding: Upperparts and breast, rich buff-brown. Crown, upperparts and sides of breast, bold black spots. Rear underparts, whitish. Legs, long, yellow-orange. No wing bar. Underwing, white with a dark bar on greater primary coverts. Non-breeding: Duller, pale buff-brown.
Juveniles: Dark above. Lighter breast.
Other Names (World)
Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Yellowcrop
Family
Scolopacidae (Sandpipers, Snipes, Phalaropes)
Antigua and Barbuda (P), Argentina (NB), Barbados (P), Belize (P), Bermuda (P), Bolivia (NB), Brazil (NB), Canada (B) (P), Colombia (P), Costa Rica (P), Ecuador (NB) (P), El Salvador (P), Grenada (P), Guadeloupe (P), Guatemala (P), Guyana (P), Haiti (P), Honduras (P), Martinique (P), Mexico, Nicaragua (P), Paraguay (NB), Peru, Puerto Rico (P), Russia (Asian) (B), St Lucia (P), St Pierre and Miquelon (P), St Vincent and The Grenadines (P), Suriname (P), Trinidad and Tobago (P), Uruguay (NB), USA (B).
Vagrant to Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cuba, Denmark, Egypt, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Malta, Marshall Islands, Micronesia [Federated States of], Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan (China), Tunisia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Venezuela, Virgin Islands (U.S.).
Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Calidris subruficollis) [XC591401]
by Bernabe Lopez-Lanus from Reserva Natural Palmar\u00ed, Rio Javar\u00ed, AM, Brazil (call)
Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Calidris subruficollis) [XC48603]
by Paul Kelly from Laguna de Rocha (alrededores de la laguna Las Nutrias), Rocha, Uruguay (alarm call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. Breeds in Arctic North America and far north-east Siberia.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Nest
A depression in the ground, lined with grass and leaves.
Eggs (Guide)
4; pale buff, splotched with shades of brown.
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Similar Species
Ruff (Calidris pugnax)
Larger. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Lankier. Bill, longer, tapering to a knob. Eyestripe, dark and short. Breast, white to sandy, washed grey brown or buff. Less spotting on sides of neck.
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Calidris acuminata)
Non-breeding with non-breeding. Upperparts and breast, less buff. Crown, dull chestnut. Eyebrow, whitish, more prominent. Underparts, mostly white but with more spots on flanks.
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)
Non-breeding with non-breeding. Upperparts and breast, less buff. Eyebrow, whitish. Bill, longer, dark brown but olive-yellow at the base. Breast show a more strongly cutt-off effect. Wing bar not as prominent in flight. Legs, pale to deep yellow.
Baird's Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii)
Smaller. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Stance is more horizontal. Upperparts, grey. Breast, heavily streaked. When standing wings project further than tail. Legs, black and shorter.
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