24-470: Actitis hypoleucos Actitis macularius Actitis is a small genus of waders , comprising just two very similar bird species . The genus Actitis was introduced in 1811 by the German zoologist Johann Illiger . The genus name is from Ancient Greek aktites , "coast-dweller" from akte , "coast". The type species is the common sandpiper . The genus is sister to the genus Tringa that contains
48-739: A philopatric species. Their breeding habitat is near fresh water across most of Canada and the United States . They migrate to the southern United States, the Caribbean , and South America , and are very rare vagrants to western Europe . These are not gregarious birds and are seldom seen in flocks. Spotted sandpipers are the most widespread species of their kind in North America due to their high breeding rates and their ability to adapt to various environmental pressures. Breeding grounds are chosen based on various environmental factors but tend to be in
72-422: A medium bill . These are not gregarious birds and are seldom seen in large flocks. They nest on the ground, and their habitat is near fresh water . These birds forage on the ground or in water, picking up food by sight. They may also catch insects in flight. They eat insects, crustaceans and other invertebrates . Actitis is part of the shank - tattler - phalarope clade and less closely related to
96-629: A white supercilium. Non-breeding birds , depicted below, do not have the spotted underparts, and are very similar to the common sandpiper of Eurasia ; the main difference is the more washed-out wing pattern visible in flight and the normally light yellow legs and feet of the spotted sandpiper. The Actitis species have a distinctive stiff-winged flight low over the water. They also have a distinctive walk in which their tails bob up and down. Males and females exhibit similar physical measurements, but differ in weight; females tend to be about 20-25% heavier than males. Measurements : Spotted sandpipers are
120-516: Is from the Ancient Greek aktites meaning "coast-dweller" from akte meaning "coast". The specific epithet macularius is Latin meaning "spotted". The species is monotypic : no subspecies are recognised. Adults have short yellowish legs and an orange bill with a dark tip. The body is brown on top and white underneath with black spots. These spots vary in degree over the course of spotted sandpipers' lives, becoming especially prevalent around
144-438: Is usually encountered alone, occasionally in small groups, although larger flocks are sometimes formed around migration or at breeding season roosts. It seldom joins multispecies flocks. This species has a distinctive stiff-winged flight, low over the water. It nests on the ground near freshwater . When threatened, the young may cling to their parent's body to be flown away to safety. The common sandpiper forages by sight on
168-547: The Actitis species characteristically perform during foraging. Spotted sandpiper Tringa macularia Linnaeus , 1766 Actitis macularia orth. err. Tringoides macularius Sharpe , 1896 The spotted sandpiper ( Actitis macularius ) is a small shorebird . Together with its sister species the common sandpiper ( A. hypoleucos ), it makes up the genus Actitis . They replace each other geographically; stray birds may settle down with breeders of
192-586: The calidrid sandpipers. Based on the degree of DNA sequence divergence and putative shank and phalarope fossils from around the Oligocene / Miocene boundary some 23–22 million years ago , presumably Actitis diverged from its closest relatives in the Late Oligocene ; given the much higher diversity of the prehistoric members of the group in Eurasia it is likely that they originated there, possibly being isolated as
216-402: The spotted sandpiper ( A. macularia ), make up the genus Actitis . They are parapatric and replace each other geographically; stray birds of either species may settle down with breeders of the other and hybridize . Hybridization has also been reported between the common sandpiper and the green sandpiper , a basal species of the closely related genus Tringa . The common sandpiper
240-494: The Ancient Greek hupo meaning "beneath" with leukos meaning "white". The species is monotypic and no subspecies are recognised. The adult is 18–20 cm (7.1–7.9 in) long with a 32–35 cm (13–14 in) wingspan. It has greyish-brown upperparts, white underparts, short dark-yellowish legs and feet, and a bill with a pale base and dark tip. In winter plumage, they are duller and have more conspicuous barring on
264-520: The Nukumanu language of the Nukumanu Islands ( Papua New Guinea ), this species is usually called tiritavoi . Another Nukumanu name for it, matakakoni , exists, but this is considered somewhat taboo and not used when children and women are around. The reason for this is that matakakoni means "bird that walks a little, then copulates", in reference to the pumping tail and thrusting head movements
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#1733093939252288-444: The breeding season. The overall health of spotted sandpipers may be suggested by the "spottiness" of an individual. Generally, females with more "spottiness" were healthier than those who did not have as many spots. The condition of males based on the amount of spots they exhibit is yet to be determined. Additionally, spot size gets smaller and the spot shape becomes more irregularly shaped as age increases. Spotted sandpipers also feature
312-638: The ground or in shallow water, picking up small food items such as insects , crustaceans and other invertebrates ; it may even catch insects in flight. It is widespread and common, and therefore classified as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List but is a vulnerable species in some states of Australia. The common sandpiper is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. In
336-548: The ground or in water, picking up food by sight. They may also catch insects in flight. They eat insects (such as flies , beetles , grasshoppers , mayflies , midges , crickets and caterpillars ), crustaceans and other invertebrates (such as spiders , snails , other molluscs , and worms ), as well as small fish and carrion . As they forage, they can be recognized by their constant nodding and teetering. The main predators of spotted sandpipers include raptors, mustelids, mice, and gulls. Most of these predators target
360-797: The offspring hatch. They will incubate their eggs for about 20–23 days. Male parents of first clutches may father chicks in later male's clutches, probably due to sperm storage within female reproductive tracts, which is common in birds. Females that fail to find additional mates usually help incubate and rear chicks. "Prior to incubation, blood plasma concentrations of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone are substantially higher in males than in females" and these levels plummet 25-fold in males as incubation proceeds. Additionally, mated females have testosterone concentrations that are 7 times higher than those of unmated females. Due to their polyandrous behavior, spotted sandpipers tend to produce more offspring compared to other species of sandpipers. These birds forage on
384-503: The other species and hybridize . The spotted sandpiper was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tringa macularia . The type locality is Pennsylvania . The species is now placed together with common sandpiper in the genus Actitis and was introduced in 1811 by the German zoologist Johann Illiger . The genus name Actitis
408-433: The proximity of bodies of water that offer some coverage from vegetation. Successful breeding sites may be used repeatedly until either the site becomes physically unsuitable (from overgrown vegetation or flooding) or predation becomes too severe. The females usually arrive at breeding grounds before the males do and establish their territories. Males arrive at breeding sites later but it is uncertain whether they will arrive at
432-461: The remains of the Turgai Sea dried up, which happened just around this time. The Late Pliocene fossil described as Actitis balcanica appears to be actually from some indeterminate charadriid . Actitis hypoleucos Tringa hypoleucos Linnaeus , 1758 The common sandpiper ( Actitis hypoleucos ) is a small Palearctic wader . This bird and its American sister species ,
456-407: The same breeding sites that some females have chosen. The search for mates amongst female spotted sandpipers is much more competitive than finding potential mates for males. During each summer breeding season, females may mate with and lay clutches for more than one male, leaving incubation to them. This is called polyandry . Male spotted sandpipers take care of the offspring, both before and after
480-543: The same location. The common sandpiper breeds across most of temperate and subtropical Europe and Asia, and migrates to Africa, southern Asia and Australia in winter. The eastern edge of its migration route passes by Palau in Micronesia , where hundreds of birds may gather for a stop-over. They depart the Palau region for their breeding quarters around the last week of April to the first week of May. The Common Sandpiper
504-416: The sandpipers' chicks and eggs. Although there has been some decline in the population of spotted sandpipers, their conservation status is currently of least concern. However, the decrease in the population of spotted sandpipers is not projected to slow or stop in the future. The destruction of their natural habitats due to increasing wildfires causes problems for breeding and raising offspring. Additionally,
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#1733093939252528-501: The shanks and the tattlers. The genus contains two species: [REDACTED] [REDACTED] These are both small migratory waders, greyish brown on top and white underneath, with a distinctive stiff-winged flight low over the water. The plumages are very similar, apart from spotted sandpipers' distinctive breeding plumage, and suspected out-of-range vagrants must be carefully observed for identification to species. Both species have short yellow or yellowish legs and
552-403: The wings, though this is still only visible at close range. Juveniles are more heavily barred above and have buff edges to the wing feathers. This species is very similar to the slightly larger spotted sandpiper ( A. macularia ) in non-breeding plumage. But its darker legs and feet and the crisper wing pattern (visible in flight) tend to give it away, and of course they are only rarely found in
576-503: Was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tringa hypoleucos . The species is now placed together with the spotted sandpiper in the genus Actitis that was introduced in 1811 by the German zoologist Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger . The genus name Actitis is from Ancient Greek aktites meaning "coast-dweller" from akte meaning "coast". The specific epithet hypoleucos combines
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