Restart Bird Identification Expert

What was the primary COLOR of the Sandpiper-like bird you saw in British Columbia?



Black-bellied Plover: Medium-sized shorebird with black upperparts vividly marked with a white spot on each feather. Face, throat, and belly are black. White forehead and crown, extends over eye and down back, sides of neck. Black armpit and white rump, vent, and wing stripe are visible in flight.
American Golden-Plover: Medium sandpiper with black face, underparts. Back is dark brown with yellow spots; has a white S-shaped mark along head and sides. Markings provide camouflage to blend in with tundra breeding grounds. Bill is black, thin, and short. Swift direct flight on rapid wing beats.
Pacific Golden-Plover: Medium plover, yellow-spotted, dark brown back, black face, and black underparts with white-mottled flanks; a white S-shaped mark extends from above the eye to along sides. Bill is black, thin, and short. Black legs, feet. Swift direct flight with rapid, steady wing beats.
Semipalmated Plover: Small plover, gray-brown upperparts and white underparts. Forehead and faint eyebrows are white, while face and collar are black. Bill is orange with black tip. Wings have white stripes visible in flight. Tail is brown with white edges. Orange legs, feet. Strong direct flight.
Lesser Sand-Plover: Medium-sized, chunky plover with gray upperparts, white underparts, and bright rust-brown breast band and nape. The head has gray-brown cap and thick black eyestripe broken by a white forehead. Throat is white with a black border. Bill is black and legs and feet are yellow-green.
Killdeer: Large banded plover, brown upperparts and white underparts, two distinct black bands cross upper breast. White stripes on wings are visible in flight. Tail and rump show rust-brown in flight. Black bill, pink-brown legs and feet. Wavering, erratic flight, capable of swift, direct flight.
Black Oystercatcher: Large stocky brown-black shorebird with long,bright orange bill and glaring yellow eyes with contrasting orange eye ring. The legs and feet are pink. Feeds primarily on limpets and other shellfish, also eats mussels and marine worms. Rapid direct flight with shallow wing beats.
American Avocet: Long-legged shorebird with long, thin, upcurved bill and distinctive black-and-white back and sides. Head and neck are bright rust-brown during summer. Legs and feet are gray. Feeds on insects, crustaceans, and invertebrates. Strong direct flight with neck extended.
Greater Yellowlegs: Large sandpiper with mottled brown, gray, and white upperparts. Underparts are white with dark streaks, spots. Bill is slightly upturned. Legs are long and bright yellow. Long barred tail and white rump are conspicuous in flight. Swift direct flight, sometimes at great heights.
Lesser Yellowlegs: Large sandpiper with gray and black mottled upperparts, white underparts and streaked upper breast and sides. Bill is straight and uniformly dark gray. White lower rump and dark-barred tail are visible in flight. Legs are long and yellow. Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Spotted Redshank: Large sandpiper, mostly black body except for white rump, white spots on wings, barred tail. Bill is red with black tip. Legs and feet are dark red. Feeds and forages on land or in shallow water by probing in mud, and sweeping bill back and forth. Swift direct flight when flushed.
Wandering Tattler: Medium sandpiper, solid gray upperparts and heavily black-and-white barred underparts. Face is finely streaked and eye line is dark. Long, black bill. White eye ring. Dull yellow legs and feet. Eats insects, larvae, worms and mollusks. Quick, direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Wood Sandpiper: Medium, long-legged sandpiper with dark gray-brown upperparts and breast heavily marked with white spots and notches. Underparts are white; legs usually green, but may be yellow and lead to confusion with Lesser Yellowlegs. Underwings pale gray; rump is white with black-barred tail.
Solitary Sandpiper: Medium sandpiper, pale-spotted, dark brown back and rump, white underparts with streaks on neck and sides. Head is dark, eye-ring is bold white. Tail is black with conspicuous black-and-white barred edges. Bill, legs, and feet are olive-green. Direct flight is light and bouyant.
Spotted Sandpiper: Medium sandpiper, olive-brown upperparts, white underparts with bold black spots. Eyestripe is white. Wings have white stripes visible in flight. Tail is barred. Dull yellow legs. Low direct flight, wings flap in shallow arcs, producing clipped, stiff wing beats on drooping wings.
Whimbrel: Large, long-legged sandpiper, brown and white mottled upperparts and buff underparts with faint streaks on sides and flanks. Crown is white-striped black and neck is long and streaked. Bill is long, black, and decurved. Tail and rump are brown and black barred. Legs and feet are blue-gray.
Long-billed Curlew: Very large sandpiper with brown mottled upperparts, buff-brown underparts with dark streaks and spots. Bill is very long, decurved. Cinnamon-brown underwings visible in flight. Feeds by probing mud with bill or dunking head under water. Direct flight, steady, strong wing beats.
Far Eastern Curlew: Largest curlew, very long, decurved bill, longest of any shorebird. Dark brown with heavily streaked underparts. Blue-gray legs, feet. Eats crustaceans, marine worms, insects, larvae, invertebrates. Strong steady flight, rapid wing beats. Flies in straight line or V formation.
Hudsonian Godwit: Large sandpiper with white-scaled, brown-black upperparts, black-barred chestnut-brown underparts. Long bill, slightly upcurved and pink with black tip. White rump, white wing-bar, black underwings visible in flight. Legs and feet are blue-gray. Swift, powerful undulating flight.
Marbled Godwit: Large sandpiper with black-marked, dark brown upperparts, lightly barred, chestnut-brown underparts. Long pink bill has black tip, is slightly upcurved. Pale brown underwings visible in flight. Feeds on crustaceans, mollusks, worms, insects, seeds, berries. Swift and direct flight.
Ruddy Turnstone: Medium sandpiper, red-brown upperparts, white rump and underparts. Face and breast are black-marked. Bill is short, dark, and slightly upturned. Wings have a unique brown, black, and white pattern visible in flight. Tail is white with black terminal band. Legs and feet are orange.
Black Turnstone: Medium sandpiper, scaled black upperparts, white spot between eye and bill, black breast with white speckles on sides, and white belly. Short, dark bill slightly upturned. Back, wings, and rump display a dramatic black-and-white pattern in flight. Swift flight on rapid wing beats.
Surfbird: Medium sandpiper, dark gray upperparts marked with rufous, white rump, white underparts marked with distinct black chevrons. Upper breast, head, neck are heavily streaked. Wings are dark with bold white stripes visible in flight. Tail is white with a black triangular tip visible in flight.
Rock Sandpiper: Medium sandpiper, scaled gray-brown and reddish-brown upperparts, dark crown, heavily streaked white underparts with dark breast patch. Dark bill is slightly decurved. Wings have large white stripes visible in flight. Tail has dark central stripe above and is white below. Black legs.
Red Knot: Medium-sized sandpiper with black, brown and gray scaled upperparts, red-brown face, neck, breast and sides, and white lower belly. Wings show white bars in flight. Bill is black and slightly curved. Eats insects, larvae, mollusks and crabs. Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Sanderling: Medium-sized sandpiper with dark-spotted, rufous upperparts, breast and white underparts. Wings have conspicuous white stripes visible in flight. Bill, legs, and feet are black. Feeds on crustaceans, mollusks, isopods, worms, plants and insects. Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Dunlin: Medium-sized sandpiper with black-streaked, red-brown upperparts, conspicuous black belly patch, and streaked breast. The black bill is long and slightly decurved. Legs and feet are black. Wades in shallows and uses bill to probe and pick up food. Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Curlew Sandpiper: Medium-sized sandpiper with mottled rufous, white, and black upperparts. Head, neck and breast are a rich rufous while vent, undertail coverts and underwings are white. Black bill is long and slightly decurved. The legs and feet are black. Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Semipalmated Sandpiper: Small sandpiper with scaled gray-brown upperparts, white underparts, and fine streaks on the breast and sides. The black bill is short, stout and straight. Feeds on insects, worms, small mollusks and crustaceans. Legs and feet are black. Swift flight on rapidly beating wings.
Western Sandpiper: Small sandpiper, chestnut-brown, scaled upperparts, white underparts dotted with rows of dark chevrons. Head streaked with brown wash on face. Bill is dark and decurved at tip. Thin white stripes visible on dark wings in flight. Black legs and feet, partial webbing between toes.
Least Sandpiper: Small sandpiper, brown-scaled upperparts, rust-brown crown. Breast, throat are dark-spotted; belly, undertail are white. Wings have thin, white stripes visible in flight. Black line on rump extends onto tail. Legs and feet are yellow-green. Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Little Stint: Medium sandpiper, scaled-brown upperparts, white underparts. Face, neck, breast are rust-brown with black spots. The back has white lines that form a V pattern in flight. Black bill, legs, feet. Feeds by pecking at surface and probing mud with bill. Direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Pectoral Sandpiper: Medium sandpiper with scaled, dark brown upperparts, heavily streaked brown breast, plain white belly. Crown, eyestripe are dark brown. Faint wing-bar and black rump with white edges are visible in flight. Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats. Zigzag pattern when flushed.
Upland Sandpiper: Large bird, dark-spotted, brown upperparts, black rump. White chin, neck, throat. Breast and sides streaked with dark chevrons, white belly. Dark cap, white eye-rings. Bill is thin, olive-brown, decurved at tip. Wedge-shaped tail has dark center and barred edges visible in flight.
Ruff: Large sandpiper with variably-colored frilly tufts on the neck that ranges from black to rufous to white to speckled and bared. Female lacks ruff. Head is orange-brown and the belly is white. Bill is orange with dark, drooped tip. Orange-yellow legs. Low, direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Short-billed Dowitcher Breeding Adult: Large sandpiper, upperparts mottled gray, black, brown and red-brown, white rump, red-brown underparts with heavy spots, and bars (east and west coast birds have heavier barred and spotted, paler underparts and often show white bellies). Strong direct flight.
Long-billed Dowitcher: Large, stocky sandpiper with dark, mottled upperparts, dark cap and eyestripe, short white eyebrow, and red-brown underparts with lightly barred flanks. Bill is long, dark, and dagger like. Legs and feet are yellow-green. Swift direct flight, rapid wing beats.
Stilt Sandpiper: Medium sandpiper with gray-brown upperparts, white rump, heavily barred white underparts. Head has a dark cap, white eyebrows, and brown ear patches. Bill is long, black, and curved down at tip. Legs are long and gray-green. Powerful, direct flight on long, rapidly beating wings.
Wilson's Phalarope: Medium sandpiper, gray-brown upperparts, red-brown streaks on back, shoulders. White underparts with red-brown markings on upper sides. Gray crown, white face, black eye-line that continues down neck. Black needle-like bill. Gray wings with dark flight feathers. White tail, rump.
Red-necked Phalarope: Medium sandpiper with brown-striped dark gray back, mottled gray breast, and white throat and belly. Head, nape, and flanks are gray. Neck and upper breast are rust-brown. Bill is thin and black. Flight is swift and swallowlike with rapid wing beats, quick movements, and turns.
Red Phalarope: Medium-sized sandpiper with dark gray upperparts and rufous neck and underparts. Head has white face, black cap, and a thick, straight, yellow bill with black tip. Feeds on small fish, insects and aquatic invertebrates. Flight is swift and direct with rapid wing beats.
Wilson's Snipe: Medium sandpiper, brown and black mottled upperparts, buff stripes on back. White underparts, dark bars on sides, flanks. Heavily streaked head, neck, breast. Dark brown wings, nearly black primaries. Black tail with broad, red-brown central bar, white tip. Yellow-green legs, feet.
 
Restart Bird Identification Expert