Spotted Sandpiper, Actitis macularius
Spotted Sandpiper, Actitis macularius. Photograph taken in a coastal lagoon in the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, January 2019.
Spotted Sandpiper, Actitis macularius. Photograph taken in the greater Zihuatanejo area, Guerrero, January 2020. Photograph and identification courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuatanejo. Identification courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah.
Spotted Sandpiper, Actitis macularius. Bird photographed in the greater Mexico City area, March 2021. Photograph and identification courtesy of Marina Sutormina, Stockholm, Sweden.
Spotted Sandpiper, Actitis macularius. Photograph taken in the coastal area of Yavaros, Sonora, March 2018. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.
Spotted Sandpiper, Actitis macularius. Birds photographed on the beach in Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, March 2021. Photographs and identification courtesy of Marina Sutormina, Stockholm, Sweden.
Spotted Sandpiper, Actitis macularius. Photograph taken with the rocky shoreline of the greater Bahía de los Ángeles area, Baja California, November 2008. Photograph courtesy of George Flicker, Bahía de los Ángeles. Identification courtesy of Mary & George Flicker, Bahía de los Ángeles.
Spotted Sandpiper, Actitis macularius. Photograph taken in the coastal area of Yavaros, Sonora, October, 2019. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.
The Spotted Sandpiper, Actitis macularius, is a member of the Scolopacidae Family of Sandpipers and Allies, that has ninety-seven members placed in fifteen, and one of two global species of the Actitis Genus. They are named for the females dense ventral spotting that are present while breeding. They are also known as the Teeter-peep, Tetter-bob, Jerk Bird, Perk Bird, Tetter-Snipe and Tip-tail and in Mexico as andarríos maculado.
The Spotted Sandpiper is medium-sized. They are sexually dichromatic with the females being larger than the males. They are brownish to olive gray above, white below with the females, while breeding, having bold black spotting. They have a partial eye ring and white wing-bar on the upper wings.
The Spotted Sandpiper are typically found along the shorelines of wild river and lakes, agricultural ponds and pools, and oceanic shorelines at elevations up to 4,700 m (15,400 feet). They are normally found as singular individuals or in small groups and recognized for their teetering along the water’s edge and their unique fight pattern with shallow, stiff-wing beats. They consume a wide variety of animal matter including freshwater, marine, and terrestrial invertebrates, and occasionally small fish. They have life spans of up to twelve years.
The Spotted Sandpiper is an intermediate to long-distance migrant that is a wintertime visitor to Mexico, migrating as single individuals or in small groups. They are found in all parts of the country in close proximity to water sources.
The Spotted Sandpiper is most likely confused with the Solitary Sandpiper, Tringa solitaria (has a prominent eye-ring) and the Wandering Tattler, Tringa incana (much larger, breeding plumage with heavily barred underparts, winter plumage with gray foreneck, sides, and chest, and lack of white wing-bar on upperwing).
From a conservation perspective the Spotted Sandpiper is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They have drawn attention from the scientific community as they are one of the few birds that have reversed sex roles with the females being more aggressive and the males, arriving first at the breeding site, stake out territories, and attempt to attract males. Each female will mate with three or four males over a short period of time. The males provide the primarily parental role. They will also breed monogamously. Such great variation in breeding tactics have generated significant study of how variations in environmental conditions alter the expression and evolution of behavioral and physiological traits.