Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)

Hyatt Lake - Cascade Mountains - Jackson County - Oregon - USA

 

Habitat : Shorelines

Food : Small Animals

Nesting : Ground

Behavior : Probing

Conservation : Low Concern

 

"The dapper Spotted Sandpiper makes a great ambassador for the notoriously difficult-to-identify shorebirds. They occur all across North America, they are distinctive in both looks and actions, and they're handsome. They also have intriguing social lives in which females take the lead and males raise the young. With their richly spotted breeding plumage, teetering gait, stuttering wingbeats, and showy courtship dances, this bird is among the most notable and memorable shorebirds in North America... Female Spotted Sandpipers sometimes practice an unusual breeding strategy called polyandry, where a female mates with up to four males, each of which then cares for a clutch of eggs. One female in Minnesota laid five clutches for three males in a month and a half. This odd arrangement does not happen everywhere and often they are monogamous, with the female pitching in to help a little."

- Cornell University Lab of Ornithology

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