A Study of Solitary Sandpipers

Another Solitary Sandpiper showed up at the Peace Valley Park bridge this afternoon (October 7th, 2008) and decided to pose for me. I have added its photographs to the study below of the twelve other Solitary Sandpipers that were photographed on September 9th. (Please see the images with green captions!)

There were twelve Solitary Sandpipers (Tringa solitaria) on the evening of September 9th, 2008 for at least an hour near the Peace Valley Park bridge. Like its name, we usually get to see it alone. There were both juveniles (brownish cast wings) and adults (dark gray to blackish wings.) It gave me an opportunity to photograph all of these birds in various activities, e.g.,  feeding, preening, and as well, being territorially aggressive. Two of birds displayed the aggressive behavior several times. They would first stretch to their maximum height and then lifting their wings, chase the other Solitary Sandpipers away from their feeding stations. The photos show two different birds doing both territorial postures.

Solitary Sandpipers are related to both the Lesser (Tringa flavipes) and the Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca). Also, another relative is the rare Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) that showed up earlier this year at Prime Hook in Delaware. There are photos of all three species shown at the end of the album for comparison. The Greater Yellowlegs photos were taken in Alaska in July of 2008. The Lesser Yellowlegs photos, including the shot with the Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs together, were taken in Green Lane Park in Pennsburg, PA last week. The photos of the Wood Sandpiper were taken in May of 2008.

The Solitary Sandpiper breeds across the boreal-forest belt of Canada and Alaska. It winters throughout the New World tropics, Mexico and the West Indies. Fortunately, we get to see it on migration.

The Solitary Sandpiper is about 8.5 inches long (smaller than both the Yellowlegs.) It is easily distinguished by its "white spectacles" and greenish legs.

Please click on either the thumbnails or the captions to see a larger image...thanks!

   Revised October 7th, 2008                                Please click here to go back to Bird Webpage Index

© Howard B. Eskin 2008                              Please email your comments to hbeskin@voicenet.com