Spotted Sandpiper

Actitis macularia
Plover family (Charadriidae)

Habitat:
Lakes, ponds, rivers.

Description:
Medium-sized shorebird, 6 ¼” long.  Large dark spots on white underparts. 
Repeatedly bobs tail while walking.  Bill pinkish orange with darker tip.  Brownish to olive gray back.

Nesting:
Nest is a shallow depression lined with a few grasses near water.  Eggs are buff with brown spots.  Clutch size – 1 to 4 eggs.  Young are precocial, covered with down, leave nest shortly after hatching, begin flying 2 to 3 weeks after hatching.

Voice:
In alarm or aggression, gives series of short whistles like “weet weet weet”. 

Name Origin:
Actitis, aktites, Greek for “a dweller on the sea coast”; macula, Latin for “spot” for spots on underparts of the bird

In the Nature Park:
Short-distance migrant, arrives in April.  Spotted Sandpipers occasionally occur along the edge of the Quarry Pond.  We don’t know if they nest in the Nature Park.