Medium small. Bill, fine and slightly decurved. Sexes alike.
Adults: Breeding: Crown, ear coverts, bright rufous wash. Scapulars, brown with rufous base. Eyebrow, white. Eye, dark brown. Lores, black. Underparts, white with streaks and arrow-shaped spots across the breast and along the sides and flanks. Tail, black with outer tail feather grey-brown. Rump, white. Bill, black, with yellow-brown base. Legs, short, black. Non-breeding: Upperparts, crown, uniform darkish-grey-brown. Eyebrow, white and short. Underparts, chin, white with a zone of dark streaks across chest. When standing wingtips extend beyond the tail tip.
Immatures: Brighter. Eyebrow, white, contrasts with chestnut wash on crown, ear coverts and back. White lines edge mantle feathers and scapulars.
Other Scientific Names
Calidris fusicollis [Turbott (1990)], Erolia fuscicollis
Other Names (World)
White-rumped Sandpiper, Bonaparte's Sandpiper
Family
Scolopacidae (Sandpipers, Snipes, Phalaropes)
Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada (B) (P), Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Pierre and Miquelon (P), St Vincent and The Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uruguay (NB), USA (B), Venezuela, Virgin Islands (British) (NB), Virgin Islands (U.S.) (NB).
Vagrant to Antarctica, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece (P), Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia (European), Spain, St Helena, Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom.
North-eastern Alaska and northern Canada east to southern Baffin I. Winters in south-eastern South America, from central-eastern Brazil to Tierra del Fuego.
 
Breeds in arctic North America, migrates to South America.
 
Population
Estimated population is 1,100,000 (2010).
White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis) [XC686911]
by Ignacio Escobar from Mostardas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (call)
White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis) [XC836099]
by Jerome Fischer from Est Parraga, Yacuma, Beni Department, Bolivia (call, song)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Britain or Ireland.
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Subspecies
Formerly placed in genus Erolia.
No subspecies.
Similar Species
Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea)
Slightly larger. Non-breeding wth non-breeding. Wing bar is bolder white. Rump, white and proceeds higher up back. Bill, longer, finer at the tip. Breast, paler and more finely streaked. Legs, longer.
Baird's Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii)
Smaller. Non-breeding wth non-breeding. More buffish and mottled. Lacks a white rump. Bill, finer, shorter.
Dunlin (Calidris alpina) which is slightly larger, has a longer, more robust, straight or with a lightly decurved bill, and lacks the white rump bar.
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
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7