ODNR Division of Wildlife - A to Z Species Guide - Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Photo by Jim McCormac

The buff-breasted sandpiper is a dapper, plover-like sandpiper that is rare in Ohio. They are strictly accidental in the spring; almost all records are in the fall. Like the Baird's sandpiper, their northward journey is west of the Mississippi River; south-bound migrants move east of there.

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Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Tryngites subruficollis

At-a-Glance
• Clutch Size: 4 eggs

• Typical Foods: aquatic invertebrates

Description
The buff-breasted sandpiper is distinct from other shorebirds because of the buff color on its head, neck, and chest, and its paling to whitish undertail coverts. It has a small head, short bill, and yellow legs. In flight, the buff body contrasts with the underwing, which is white with a marbled tip.

Habitat and Habits
This sandpiper might be termed as a "grass-piper" because it favors dry, sparsely vegetated zones of mudflats, grassy expanses of airports and sod farms, and occasionally even large lawns near Lake Erie. This species does not make elaborate sounds - just soft clicks and other quiet notes.

Reproduction and Care of the Young
Buff-breasted sandpipers breed in the high Arctic, just about as far north as is possible. There, this normally shy and retiring bird becomes extroverted and the males launch into elaborate courtships.