Photo Study Of A Solitary Sandpiper

I am retiring at the end of this month but on my way to work this morning, I found a worn adult Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria) in a most unlikely place. I was coming off Rte 476 unto the PA Turnpike. The ramp adjoins an open field with a small drainage ditch. I saw the Solitary Sandpiper in the pool so naturally I stopped to photograph the bird from my car window (not to worry, I was able to get safely both off and then back on the ramp!)

Solitary Sandpiper

The Solitary Sandpiper is a small (8 1/2 inch) wader (shorebird).  It is smaller than either the Lesser or Greater Yellowlegs, the two other members in the genus Tringa that we see regularly on migration here in Pennsylvania. The Solitary Sandpiper lays its eggs in abandoned nests in trees in woodlands across Alaska and Canada. It winters in Central and South America, especially in the Amazon River basin and the Caribbean.

This is not a gregarious species, usually seen alone during migration, although sometimes small numbers congregate in suitable feeding areas (I have seen small groups of them near the bridge in Peace Valley Park in the springtime.) The Solitary Sandpiper is very much a bird of fresh water, and is often found in sites, such as ditches, too restricted for other waders, which tend to like a clear all-round view.

Food includes small invertebrates, sometimes small frogs, picked off the mud as this species works steadily around the edges of its chosen pond.

In any event, I thought I would share this morning's find with you. I have annotated some of the images with a few of the more important field marks from Sibley's "Guide to Birds" as well as Cornell's BNA website.

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

 © Howard B. Eskin 2009                          Please email your comments to hbeskin@voicenet.com