Stocky, short-legged sandpiper with a dropping bill that is yellow at the base. Nonbreeding birds are pale gray above with spotting on the breast.
Stocky, short-legged sandpiper with a dropping bill that is yellow at the base. Breeding birds have a pale head, chestnut markings on the back, and a dark belly patch.
Males and females may incubate the eggs alone, or both parents may share the responsibility. Clutch sizes are generally between one and four eggs.
Plumage brightest varies from darkest in the Aleutian Islands to palest in the Pribilof Islands. Nonbreeding birds are grayish above with gray spotting below.
Juveniles have cinnamon edging on their back feathers and brownish spotting on the breast.
Juveniles have cinnamon edging on their back feathers and brownish spotting on the beast.
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A very plump, short-necked shorebird with a long, slightly curving bill, and short legs.
Larger than a Sanderling, smaller than a Red Knot.
robin-sizedOrnithologists currently recognize at least four subspecies of Rock Sandpiper. The largest, ptilocnemis, nests on the Bering Sea islands and winters in Alaska, mostly at Cook Inlet and on the Alaska Peninsula. In breeding plumage, it has a wider white wingstripe, paler underparts, and much paler back than all other subspecies, and its nonbreeding plumage is also noticeably paler. The smallest subspecies, quarta, nests and winters on Russia’s Commander Islands. It has a uniformly colored back. Intermediate in size are the similar tschuktschorum, of mainland Alaska and easternmost Russia, and couesi of the Aleutian Islands. Their breeding ranges meet around Bristol Bay. Both of these darker subspecies show strongly patterned backs in breeding plumage. Most tschuktschorum winter from southern Alaska to northern California, whereas couesi winter near their nesting areas.
Sandpipers and Allies(Order: Charadriiformes, Family: Scolopacidae)
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