E, the wings are raised similarly to a bird alighting on
or arising from the ground, the body horizontal. In this
attitude one bird sometimes chases another. F is a double
version of B, both wings being raised high and waved
round and round. G, both wings are spread, undersurfaces
forward, primaries horizontal, after the manner of the
American eagle, the body being almost perpendicular.
This may be accomplished by a rapid _tick tick tick_
many times repeated. Two birds may do it simultaneously
standing opposite to each other with the tips of the wings
practically touching. H is the most characteristic of all
and the most amusing to watch. Both wings are raised with
the undersurfaces facing to the front as in G, but with the
primaries perpendicular, tips practically touching each
other over the bird’s head. The body is held absolutely
vertical and the legs stretched to capacity (I am not
sure that the birds do not stand partially on tiptoe),
tail cocked out horizontally behind, while the individual
“_ticks_” at top speed for about a second. Each “_tick_” is
accompanied with a rapid jerk of the whole body. The bird
then relaxes momentarily, turns through an angle of 40 to
50 degrees, repeats the performance to a fresh audience
(if there is one, for I have seen isolated birds doing
this), relaxes to switch round again, and so on perhaps
half a dozen times. This may also be done simultaneously
by two birds, face to face, and standing so close that the
wing tips appear to touch over their heads. It may then be
repeated without any change of direction in the intervals.
But it always seems to be done in spasms. Display is
evidently infectious, particularly in fine weather, for
no sooner does one start than a dozen may be at it in a
moment. But it is curious to see a bird suddenly stop in
its hunt for food in order to go through one of these acts
and then proceed as though it never had anything else
in mind, particularly if it is by itself. It seems so
irrational. Occasional bickering occurs, but we have never
seen serious fights or even suggestion of anything serious.
Murdoch (1885) has also observed that--
Two will occasionally meet and spar like fighting cocks for
a few minutes and then rise together like towering birds,
with legs hanging loose, for about 30 feet, then drifting
off to leeward. A single bird will sometimes stretch
himself up to his full height, spread his wings forward,
and puff out his throat, making a sort of clucking noise,
while one or two others stand by and apparently admire him.
_Nesting._--Roderick MacFarlane found the buff-breasted sandpiper
breeding commonly on the barren grounds east of Horton River and on the
Arctic coast. I find the records of some 25 nests in his notes, but the
data given are very meager. One nest was “near a small river, made of a
few dead leaves”; another was “a depression in the ground, lined with
a few withered grasses and leaves, on the slope of a gentle eminence”;
a third, he said, was “precisely similar to that of the golden plover.
The female made a short, low flight to a distance of about 12 yards,
when the nest was approached within 9 or 10 feet.”
Murdoch (1885), at Point Barrow, “collected the eggs in considerable
abundance”; he says that “they were never seen on the lower marshy
portions of the tundra, but always confined themselves to the high and
dry banks, or what we call the black tundra.” The eggs were deposited
“in a shallow depression in the ground lined with a little moss,” where
they harmonized very well with the black and white of the ground and
moss.
_Eggs._--The buff-breasted sandpiper lays four eggs; one set of five
is recorded. The shapes vary from ovate pyriform to pyriform, usually
decidedly pointed. The prevailing ground colors are very light, from
“cartridge buff” to dull white; in some darker colored eggs they
are “olive-buff,” “chamois,” or “cream buff.” They are heavily and
boldly marked, chiefly at the large end, where the markings are often
confluent, with longitudinal and somewhat spiral blotches and with
small spots and blotches scattered over the whole egg. An occasional
egg is only sparingly marked with small spots. The markings are in
dark browns, “bister,” “sepia,” “liver brown” and “livid brown,”
sometimes “Saccardo’s umber” or “chestnut brown.” There are usually
underlying blotches and spots in various shades of “brownish drab” or
“drab-gray.” The measurements of 62 eggs in the United States National
Museum average 37 by 26 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes
measures =40= by 27, 37.5 by =27.5=, =34.5= by 25.5, and 35.5 by =25=
millimeters.
_Plumages._--I have never seen a downy young buff-breasted sandpiper
and I doubt if any one else has. Young birds are in juvenal plumage
when they migrate southward. They are like the adults, except as
follows: The feathers of the mantle are sepia with an olive tinge,
“dark grayish olive,” narrowly edged with cream white, giving a scaled
appearance, whereas in the adult these feathers are brownish black or
black, with very broad edgings of “cinnamon-buff” or “pinkish buff”;
the feathers of the lower back, rump and upper tail coverts are from
“hair brown” to “fuscous,” tipped with “cinnamon,” whereas in the adult
these are brownish black, broadly edged with “cinnamon-buff”; the
inner webs of the primaries, on the under side, are much more finely
and closely sprinkled with black than in the adult, which has larger,
more widely scattered and hence more conspicuous black spots. This last
character probably persists through the first year. The postjuvenal
molt and the first prenuptial molt are accomplished in South America. I
have seen no specimens illustrating these.
Adults have a complete molt, apparently late in the fall or in the
winter, the wings being molted last. Doctor Wetmore (1926) shot a male
on September 21 that was still in worn breeding plumage. Birds molting
primaries have been taken in February and March. Summer and winter
plumages are very similar and the sexes are alike, except that the
female is much smaller than the male.
_Food._--Professor Rowan (1927) says:
I am indebted to the Biological Survey at Washington for
kindly analyzing the contents of 17 stomachs, spring
taken. Roughly, 40 per cent consisted of Coleoptera,
adults and larvae, and 50 per cent of Diptera, chiefly
larvae and pupae. Seeds of _Polygonum_, _Potamogeton_, and
_Eleocharis_ were present to the extent of 1 per cent.
The rest consisted of spider and insect remains. I shall
be glad to send a detailed list to anyone who may be
interested.
_Behavior._--The same observer writes:
The buff-breasted sandpiper, like Bartram’s, is a plover in
its ways and habits rather than a sandpiper. Even in its
coloration it differs radically from the common sandpipers.
It is extraordinarily tame and confiding at times. When
the mood seizes it, one could without difficulty wipe out
every bird of a flock, provided one killed or wounded one
with the first shot. The remainder will return again and
again to a wounded bird. The noise of the gun seems to have
little more than momentary effect.
Owing to the muddy tone of their plumage, these birds are
exceptionally difficult to see on the type of ground that
they so habitually frequent. One can easily walk into a
flock without knowing it till the birds get up almost
under foot. This is made the easier by their habit of
“freezing.” They stand immobile on being approached, not
necessarily crouching, generally the very reverse, but
without movement they readily enough escape observation. If
they start moving as one gets nearer, it is always on the
run. They then carry their necks “craned,” scatter widely,
and zig-zag hither and thither rather after the manner of
partridges, of which they frequently remind one.
A flock will seldom rise in unison, but the nearer birds
will merely fly over and settle on the remote side of
the further ones. Even when the buff-breasts are amongst
sandpipers, such as Baird’s, Semi-palmateds, etc., five
times out of ten they will remain on the spot if the others
are scared up. A really large flock is rare. We estimated
the number of buff-breasts on a few acres of grass one
morning at about 2,000, and we spent several hours in
trying to photograph them. They were scattered in clumps
in all directions. Although we walked through them from
one end to the other more than once, thus tending to herd
them, the largest number we were able to put up together
was about 150. This constitutes the largest flock we have
ever seen. The typical loose association is evident in the
photograph. The birds merely flew round and settled again
in the vicinity.
On windy days these, like other waders, become exceedingly
restless and impossible to approach. They then perform the
most remarkable gyrations, always but a few feet above the
ground, and seldom rising and falling vertically, as do
so many others. They attain great speed and keep in close
formation, moving in absolute unison. As such a flock
turns in the sunlight there can be no possible error as
to identity, for the whole mass looks yellowish. A single
bird, in favorable light, may also give one the impression
of being yellow.
George H. Mackay (1892_a_) says of their habits in Massachusetts:
Of the few which I have seen I have remarked their extreme
gentleness and desire to be in company with other birds.
On one occasion I had one alight among my plover decoys
on the upland (which they seem very fond of frequenting),
and, not wishing to shoot it, I allowed it to remain for
quite a while so I could watch it. During this time it
moved about with unconcern, apparently not being aware that
its supposed companions were of wood. It seemed so gentle
that I determined to see how near it would permit me to
approach, and it was not over 5 or 6 feet from me when
it flew away, but only for a short time, however, for it
returned and alighted in the course of 10 or 15 minutes.
Having no desire to shoot it, I allowed it to remain until
it departed not to return. All the birds that I have seen
come immediately to the decoys on perceiving them, and
alight without hesitation or fear. Their flight is rapid,
with many turns and zigzag movements, and near the ground,
constantly turning up so as to show their entire under
parts.
Much of the behavior of the buff-breasted sandpiper, while on the
ground, reminds one of the upland plover; it seems to prefer the grassy
places rather than the open flats or shores, and often runs away to
hide in the grass rather than fly; in running it lifts its feet rather
high, as if accustomed to walking through grass; and it often stops and
stands with its neck stretched up looking at the intruder, just as the
upland plover does.
_Voice._--It is not a noisy bird, and seems to have a limited
vocabulary. Professor Rowan (1926) says:
The spring note of the buff-breast, on the other hand, is
the most unusual and diagnostic wader note that I know. The
only thing it reminds me of is the song of the short-billed
marsh wren (_Cistothorus stellaris_), which produces a very
excellent imitation of two stones being chipped together.
The note of the buff-breast has the same quality about
it; but, instead of being loud and clear, it is quiet and
very short, and might be described as _tik_. This species,
however, is rather silent. I call this the spring note,
but perhaps it should more correctly be termed the adult
note, for we have not a single good record of an adult
in the autumn, wherefore I am only familiar with young
at this season. Like some other waders (e. g. willet),
birds of the year have a very different call or calls from
spring adults. In the case of the buff-breast the note of
the young is so like the pectoral’s--Harold considers it
shorter and less harsh--that, although distinguishable in
the field, it can hardly be described adequately by itself.
Doctor Wetmore (1926) writes: “As they rise they may give a low call
that resembles _chwup_, somewhat robinlike in tone; a second call note
is a low trilled _pr-r-r-reet_. The species is to be confused in the
field with no other shore bird.”
_Field marks._--Professor Rowan (1927) says, on this point:
The absence of white margins and black center to the rump,
and hence the lack of contrast in this region, I have
found to be the most useful diagnostic character in the
field. The wing patch is also valuable. The extraordinarily
rounded head seen in silhouette against the sun or in bad
light at reasonable range has more than once proved useful.
The note is always diagnostic.
Doctor Wetmore (1926) writes:
When in the air or on the ground they are distinctly buff
in color, with a glimpse of the marbled underwing surface
as they rise or pass, and a flash of the gray tail with its
darker markings as they alight. On the ground in profile,
they show a long neck and long legs, while the short bill
is suggestive of that of a pigeon. The neck is drawn in
during flight.
E. A. Doolittle (1923) observed that--
The greenish legs, finely streaked crown, buffy breast
and sides of head, lack of streak through eyes, and long
pointed wings reaching beyond tail were all good field
marks while the bird was at rest; while lack of wing bars
and rounded tail were striking when the bird took flight.
_Fall._--The fall migration is much more widely extended than the
spring; the main flight is directly southward through the center of
North America, but it is so spread out that some birds appear on both
the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Professor Cooke (1912) says: “The main
body of migrants follows the Barren Grounds to the shores of Hudson
Bay, thence almost due south across the Mississippi Valley to the coast
of Texas, and through Central America to northwestern South America,
and diagonally across the interior of South America to Argentina.” A
limited flight swings eastward, south of Hudson Bay, or perhaps across
it, to the eastern Provinces of Canada and New England. The species is
so rare on the Atlantic coast south of Long Island as to indicate the
probability of an oversea flight to the West Indies and South America.
On the Pacific coast it seems to be very rare, though perhaps it has
been overlooked, south of Washington, where it is probably of regular
occurrence. D. E. Brown has sent me several records for Washington,
the dates ranging from September 3 to 20. Major Allan Brooks (1924)
says that he has noted it every year that he has been on the British
Columbia coast.
In the interior the adults come along during the last three weeks in
August, and the young birds all through September. In New England the
dates are about the same. Here they were occasionally seen in small
flocks, but now they are so rare that single birds are more often seen
in company with upland or golden plover on the rolling uplands, or with
other sandpipers on the meadows.
_Winter._--It evidently spends the winter south of Argentina, for
Doctor Wetmore (1926) saw the first one on September 21 in Paraguay and
the last one on November 13 near Buenos Aires; he did not see it again
until the return flight in March. Mr. Hudson (1920) says:
It begins to arrive, usually in small bodies, early in the
month of October; and during the summer is seldom met with
in flocks of any size on the pampas, but is usually seen on
the dry, open ground associating in small numbers with the
golden plover, the whimbrel, and other northern species. I,
however, think it probable that it travels farther south
than its fellow-migrants from North America, and has its
principal feeding-grounds somewhere in the interior of
Patagonia; also that its northern journey takes place later
than that of other species.
Doctor Wetmore (1927) says:
The species frequented open flats or muddy shores near
lakes or channels, where it was subject to considerable
hunting, as several of those seen had been crippled by
shooting. From observations at Guamini, it appeared that
the species has some resting station in northern Patagonia,
perhaps near the mouths of the Rio Colorado and the Rio
Negro, or some of the large alkaline lakes of that region.
The small numbers remaining are preserved in some such
place, but apparently the species is near extinction.
DISTRIBUTION
_Range._--North and South America.
_Breeding range._--The buff-breasted sandpiper is known to breed
only on the Arctic coast of northwestern North America from Alaska
(Cape Smythe, Point Barrow, and probably Cape Halkett); east to Yukon
(Herschell Island); and Mackenzie (Fort Anderson and Bernard Harbor).
It has been detected in summer and may breed at Nulato and Fort Egbert,
Alaska, and at Winter Harbor, Franklin (Hennessey), while it also has
been noted at this season in eastern Siberia (Cape Wankarem and the
south coast of the Okhotsk Sea).
_Winter range._--The winter range appears to be restricted to southern
South America. They have been noted at this season in Uruguay
(Montevideo); and Argentina (Cordoba, Missiones, Rio Parana, Buenos
Aires, and Lavalle).
_Spring migration._--The spring migration of the buff-breasted
sandpiper is imperfectly known, and only a few records are available.
It has been detected at Guamini, Argentina, on March 8, at Paramba,
Ecuador, on April 22, and at Gatun, Panama, on March 29. On the
Atlantic coast of the United States it is practically unknown at this
season, old records at Frogmore, South Carolina (May 5), and Kendall
(April 20), and Howard (May 8), New York, constituting the meager data
at hand.
The main flight is seemingly up the Mississippi Valley, but even
in that region, the record is incomplete. The data available are:
Louisiana, Bird Islands, May 18; Kentucky, Bowling Green, April 27;
Missouri, April 15, and May 20; Illinois, Chicago, April 27; Ohio,
Columbus, May 6, 1923 (only record); Iowa, Norway, April; Minnesota,
Madison, May 16, and Wilder, May 21; Texas, Corpus Christi, March 17,
and Gainesville, April 23; South Dakota, Sioux Falls, May 12, and Fort
Sisseton, May 22; North Dakota, Jamestown, May 6, and Harrisburg, May
7; Mackenzie, Fort Chipewyan, May 24, and Fort Simpson, May 29; and
Alaska, Demarcation Point, May 26.
_Fall migration._--The fall record is more complete and dates of
arrival and departure can be given with greater consistency. Early
dates of arrival are: British Columbia, Chilliwack, July 23; Keewatin,
Cape Eskimo, August 10; Manitoba, Shoal Lake, August 9; North Dakota,
Grafton, August 14; South Dakota, Harding County, August 15; Nebraska,
Neligh, August 12, and Waverly, August 14; Texas, Tivoli, August
3; Gainesville, August 4, and Brownsville, August 4; Minnesota,
Minneapolis, August 1; Iowa, Charles City, August 1, and Sioux City,
August 2; Indiana, Millers, August 30; Ohio, Lake County, August 19;
Illinois, Chicago, August 16; Louisiana, Abbeville, August 4; Quebec,
Godbout, August 7, and Henley Harbor, August 20; Maine, Scarboro,
August 1, and Damariscane Island, August 26; New Hampshire, Rye Beach,
August 25; Massachusetts, Ipswich, August 7, Cape Cod, August 16, and
Nantucket, August 26; Rhode Island, Little Compton, July 22; New York,
Canandaigua, July 24, Shelter Island, August 22, Syracuse, August
24, Rockaway, August 25, and Montauk Point, August 26; New Jersey,
Toms River, September 8; Virginia, Wallops Island, September 5; North
Carolina, Currituck, September 12; Florida, Lake Jackson, September
12; Costa Rica, San Jose, September 7; Colombia, Cienaga, August 12;
Peru, Pebas, August 3, and Yquitos, September 2; and Paraguay, Puerto
Pinasco, September 21.
Late dates of fall departure are: Washington, Westport, September 3,
and Tacoma, September 20; California, Morro, September 14, 1923 (only
record for the State); Montana, Yellowstone County, September 1;
Colorado, Barr, August 25 and September 4 (only records); Manitoba,
Lake Winnipeg, September 5, and Oak Lake, September 9; North Dakota,
Jamestown, September 30; Nebraska, Lincoln, October 25; Kansas, Salina,
October 10; Texas, Brownsville, October 7, and Corpus Christi, October
10; Wisconsin, Pittston, September 7, and Rock Prairie, September 10;
Michigan, Kalamazoo County, September 17; Ohio, Columbus, September
9, Indiana, Lafayette, September 10; Illinois, Chicago, September 28,
and Beach, October 2; Missouri, Independence, September 15; Kentucky,
Bowling Green, September 7; Quebec, Magdalen Islands, September 13,
and Port Burwell, September 28; Maine, Cape Elizabeth, September 13;
Massachusetts, Nantucket, September 8, Plum Island, September 15,
Monomoy Island, September 19, and Cape Cod, September 24; Rhode Island,
Middletown, September 10, Newport, September 15, and Compton, September
23; Connecticut, New Haven, September 30; New York, Orient Point,
September 8, Rockaway, September 13, and Mastic, October 6; Lesser
Antilles, Barbados, October 6; Costa Rica, San Jose, October 8; and
Panama, Gatun, October 18.
_Casual records._--The buff-breasted sandpiper has been recorded as
taken once at Cardenas, Cuba (Gundlach). There are fifteen or sixteen
records for the British Isles, all being for the period from July to
September, except one, taken in May, 1829, at Formby, Lancashire. It
also has been recorded from Abbeville, Picardy, France (Dalgleish); and
from the Province of Owari, Japan (Stejneger). A record of this species
from Heligoland, May 9, 1847, is considered by Seebohn as possibly _T.
subminuta_.
_Egg Dates_.--Arctic coasts of Canada and Alaska: 37 records, June 1 to
July 18; 19 records, June 28 to July 3.
ACTITIS MACULARIA (Linnaeus)
SPOTTED SANDPIPER
HABITS
_Contributed by Winsor Marrett Tyler_
The spotted sandpiper is one of the successful species of birds.
The old writers, speaking of a time when the surface of the country
was very different from at present, are in accord as to the abundance
of this bird in North America. Wilson (1832) refers to it as “very
common”; Nuttall (1834) says it is “one of the most familiar and common
of all the New England marsh birds”; and Audubon (1840) reports it
“quite abundant along the margins of the Mississippi, the Ohio, and
their tributaries,” and “on the island of Jestico, in the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, about 20 pairs had nests and eggs, * * * and the air was
filled with the pleasant sound of their voices.”
At the present time we find the bird apparently little diminished in
numbers. In the numerous local lists published from every part of the
country the spotted sandpiper almost always has a place. Notations such
as “seen daily throughout the summer” or “common along the streams”
indicate the wide distribution and abundance of the species. Indeed it
is the best known of our sandpipers, not only because of its extensive
breeding range, extending from coast to coast and northward into Alaska
and Labrador, but by reason of its individual and peculiar habit of
flight and its characteristic notes.
Almost every inhabitant of the United States, sometime during the year,
may meet this graceful little wader stepping delicately along the
margin of some sandy pond, the shore of the sea, or skimming from perch
to perch on the rocks bordering a mountain stream.
Poised well above the ground on its slim greenish-yellow legs it walks
slowly and carefully along the shore, picking up a bit of food now
on this side, now on that. It goes forward with a switching motion,
head reached well forward and a little lowered. Except when creeping
up within reach of an insect or when its attention is riveted on the
snapping up of a bit of food the tail is almost continuously in motion
up and down. At the least alarm the motion is increased to a wider arc
until the posterior half of the bird’s body is rapidly teetering. A
little increase in alarm and the bird is off on vibrating wings held
stiffly and cupped with the tips depressed, sailing along the shore
away from danger. As the bird takes wing it gives, almost without
exception, its whistled call, _peet-weet-weet_, a call so associated
with the bird that Nuttall long ago give it the name _peet-weet_.
_Spring._--The spotted sandpiper moves northward earlier than the
other sandpipers. It enters the transitional zone in late April and
early May, its time of arrival coinciding very closely with the
chewink, another ground feeder. It returns to its breeding ground
inconspicuously, never passing by in the large flocks characteristic of
many sandpipers, but appears on the first day of its arrival running
about on the shore of its chosen bit of water, apparently settled for
the season. In this habit of not gathering into flocks it resembles its
relative the solitary sandpiper.
Wright and Harper (1913) speak of a few birds, left behind after most
of the species had spread over the country to the north, tarrying in
the Okefinokee Swamp till late in the spring:
The spotted sandpiper was a distinct surprise as a summer
resident of the swamp. Not only is this several hundred
miles south of its known breeding range, but one would not
expect it to find a suitable haunt in the Okefinokee. The
lakes and rivers are practically shoreless; they are simply
open spaces in the otherwise continuous cypress swamps.
However, the logs and driftwood near the edges of Billys
Lake serve as teetering stands; half a dozen were seen here
on May 11, one on June 5, and still another a few days
later. The species probably does not breed in this latitude.