Sandpipers
The Western and the Least Sandpipers are the two common sparrow sized,
streaked sandpipers west of the Great Plains. The Western is the larger;
its bill is very noticeably longer, thicker at the base, and with a slight
droop at the tip (see below). In breeding plumage it is rusty on the back,
scapulars and crown. The breast is more streaked, often with dark V's
running down the sides. In the fall it lacks the dusky breast of the Least,
is grayer above, and not so brown. The legs are black. Though hard to
distinguish from the Semipalmated Sandpiper, it is a little larger and
more coarsely marked.
Shores, beaches, mudflats and open marshes are this sandpiper's preferred
habitat. It breeds on the coasts of north and west Alaska, but migrates
throughout the West. While it winters mainly on the coast from San Francisco
Bay south, the Western Sandpiper sometimes is seen north to Puget Sound,
and infrequently in southwestern states.
The Western often stands or hops on one leg, dashes about feeding with its
head down and carries its bill pointed down more than does the Semipalmated.
It usually feeds in slightly deeper water.
Normally the nest is built in upland locations in proximity to water. It
is a saucer shaped depression, usually slightly lined with dry grasses,
but sometimes with weed stalks or mosses. The eggs, 3 or 4, are variable,
buffy and marked with brown. A thin "jeet", not as drawn out as the note
of the Least, is the call of the Western.
The heads and bills of the Least, Semipalmated, and Western Sandpipers are
described and illustrated below:
LEAST (Erolia minutilla):
Six inches long, straight bill, yellow legs, brownish back, split
rump (dark center with white sides), streaked breast.
SEMIPALMATED (Ereunetes pusillus):
Six and one fourth inches long, straight bill, black legs,
gray brown back, split rump, streaked breast.
WESTERN (Ereunetes mauri):
Six and one half inches long, straight bill with a slight downward
curve, black legs, rusty back, split rump, streaked breast.
-- by Marie L. Allred