Least Sandpiper

It’s fall migration season! September is the time to find shorebirds heading south for the winter. A group to look for are the “peeps,” small sandpipers named for their vocalizations. While the occasional Baird’s and Semipalmated Sandpipers have all but passed through, Least and Western Sandpipers are still visiting local beaches. Here are some fascinating facts about the Least Sandpiper:

• Smallest of the “peep” species, which is how it got its name.

• Has the broadest summer range (from Alaska to the northern Canadian mainland) of North America’s five peep species and breeds farther south than its High Arctic cousins.

• Fairly common on Kitsap beaches from July to early November and at the peak of spring migration in late April and early May. A few are seen locally in winter.

• Wintering birds often feed with larger Western Sandpipers and Dunlin along the outer coast of southern Washington in flocks numbering from a few dozen to a few thousand individuals.

• Primarily feeds on mudflats at low tide. Also inhabits sandy and cobblestone beaches.

• The most obvious field mark to look for while differentiating Western and Least Sandpipers is the leg color, which is black on the Westerns and yellow on the Leasts.

• Has full body tones of brown mixed with white, while its cousin the Western Sandpiper has a pale body with reddish tones on the head and shoulders.

• Female has a longer bill than the male, which is slightly decurved at the tip.

• Uses its long, black bill to probe into mud and sand for aquatic invertebrates.

• The male prepares a simple scrape on the ground for a nest, which the female finishes by lining it with moss, grass, and leaves.

• Both parents incubate a clutch of four eggs for about three weeks. The young leave the nest within a day of hatching and can immediately feed themselves.

• The male assumes responsibility for the newly hatched chicks, until they can fly in another three weeks.