Upland Sandpiper

The Upland Sandpiper is among the oddest shorebirds. Unlike other shorebirds, these birds choose to spend all their time on land and rarely ever go to coastal or wetland habitats. They are most abundantly found in grasslands, with healthy numbers indicating that their surrounding habitats are also healthy. They are also known for their beautiful, high-pitched whistles that seem to travel through distances and blend in with the surrounding scenery.

About Upland Sandpipers

These birds demonstrate a variety of unique features that aid them in their grassy homes. These adaptations include plumages that help them camouflage with their surroundings, nesting in the ground, a flight song, defined displays to help distract predators, and short incubation and nestling periods. As a result of these curious features, they were called “Upland Plovers” for the longest time before scientists confirmed that they are true Sandpipers. These birds are also closely related to Curlews.

Despite their preference for land, they are strong fliers that are capable of long, non-stop flights. Although they spend as little as 4 months in their breeding grounds, they are capable of reaching their wintering grounds in South America in as little as a week. Today, we are going to be covering these fascinating birds in more detail.

● Upland Sandpiper Photos, Color Pattern, Song
● Upland Sandpiper Size, Eating Behavior, Habitat
● Upland Sandpiper Range and Migration, Nesting

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Upland Sandpiper Color Pattern

Upland Sandpipers are unassuming in appearance. They have dull olive to buff-brown upperparts that are strongly patterned with dark brown and pale brown-buff markings. Their underparts contrast with their upperparts, displaying whitish to dull yellow shades. Upland Sandpiper’s head, neck, breast, and flank are pale-buff colored with strong patterns and streaks, matching with the dark brown bars that mark their upper breast and sides. Their dark outer wing contrasts with paler inner wing coverts. The bill is yellow with a black tip.

Juveniles look like adults but have a much paler head that lacks a dark crown. The feathers of their upper parts also have prominent pale margins and dark subterminal bars that are absent among adults.

Description and Identification

These birds are true prairie birds and can thus be found mainly in natural prairies. They forage in a variety of grasslands, croplands, and pastures regularly, sometimes giving out the low mellow whistle that they are so famous for. Males are particularly conspicuous during the breeding seasons, calling for mates while mounted on elevated perches like fence posts. Families also forage together during the breeding seasons. These birds also have a penchant for turning up just about anywhere with grass during the migration seasons, including sports fields, sod farms, and other prairie-like fields.

Upland Sandpiper Song

Upland Sandpipers have been observed by human beings for a very long time, with recent scientists and colonial naturalists having extensively described them. They have also been found to have a wide vocal range, ranging from long whistles and tattling sounds.

Their most characteristic call is the long, mellow whistle that has been popularly dubbed as the “wolf-whistle” sound. It begins with the first few notes holding a gurgling quality that sounds like water, before being followed by the long, drawn-out whistle that sounds like “whooooleeeee, wheeeloooo-ooooo”. This whistle is given out in a variety of contexts, ranging from when they are in flight and their necks are extended as they glide, to the breeding grounds where both sexes give this call out before nesting. It can also be given out as a sexual display during courtship.

Other calls include a short whistle that is a rapid, rolling “hu-hee-he” or “hu-hee-ly”. The context of this call is unknown, but females generally give out a shorter and softer whistle than males. Tattler calls are also given out when these birds are in flight, a sound that is best rendered as a quick and bubble-like “quip-ip-ip-ip-ip-ip-ip-ip”. This call is presumed to be an alarm call or a simple chatter call. Contact calls are also used by both adults as a softer, and more complex version of the tattler call. It is often given by the adults to the young in order to prevent them from moving so that the parent can attend to them. Chicks also cease wandering around when adults give out an alarm call.

Young chicks do not have a wide range and generally begin by peeping soon after they hatch. If they are picked up, they give out a loud distress call to contact their parents. They also use a contact call with their parents, but it is not as complex as those of adults. A little over a month after hatching, the young ones are able to give out tattler calls like adults.

Upland Sandpiper Size

Upland Sandpipers are medium-sized birds that are about 11–12.6 inches in length with a weight of 3.4–8 ounces. They have long legs, a long, thin neck, a small Dovelike head, large eyes, and a thin and straight bill. Their long wings have a wingspan of 18.5 inches, while their tail is also long. These proportions make them larger than Lesser Yellowlegs, but slightly smaller than Greater Yellowlegs.

Upland Sandpiper Behavior

Upland Sandpipers have a plover-like gait that many have described as a “nervous way of running”. It can often bob its body up and down while keeping its head still, often jerking its tail up and down with it. They are also strong fliers that take long, swift strides while in the air. They may also flutter around their habitats when they are not migrating. Curiously, these birds are not known to swim, unlike other shorebirds. Although they have been observed bathing in water, there have been no records of them ever swimming.

These birds are rather aggressive during the breeding seasons. Paired males fiercely defend their mates and their nesting areas, driving away intruding males that are within 16 feet of their nests. Hostile interactions, however, are rare. They occur for very short periods, with birds of both parties resuming their feeding activities soon after engaging in physical fights.

They nest in loose colonies during the breeding seasons but maintain their own, smaller territories. Although these birds generally choose to remain in pairs during the cooler months of the year, extreme weather conditions like storms cause them to group together until the weather clears.

These terrestrial Sandpipers are mostly monogamous, with the birds pairing up with a single mate during the breeding season. However, recent studies have presented evidence on cases of polyandry. In other words, multiple males may father the eggs in a single brood. More than one female laying eggs in a single brood is also a common occurrence. Breeding seasons commence with males fluttering over their territories and giving out their whistled call. Eventually, they land and raise their wings above their back, and continue to sing. Once they pair up, males and females continue to display to each other to maintain their bonds.

Upland Sandpiper Diet

Like other Sandpipers, these birds are mainly insectivores. They feed on a variety of terrestrial insects, like grasshoppers, crickets, weevils, billbugs, cutworms, leaf beetles, click beetles, May beetles, moths, ants, bugs, and larvae of flies like horseflies, craneflies, and sawflies. They also eat prey like centipedes, millipedes, snails, spiders, ticks, and earthworms. If insect prey is scarce, they will consume seeds of grasses, weeds, forbs, wheat, rye, and berries. In recently burned fields, they may gather in huge flocks to feed on the sudden emergent grasshopper populations. They also gravitate towards recently plowed potato fields to eat grubs.

Upland Sandpiper Habitat

Upland Sandpipers can be found nesting in grasslands and are most numerous in the prairies in the Great Plains. They also nest in pastures, both grazed and ungrazed, and in agricultural fields, especially fallow fields, but sometimes hay or other crop fields. Some even nest in road edges. Minimal woody vegetation and minimal bare ground are the basic
requirements of these habitats. In Alaska and north-western Canada Upland Sandpipers are scarce, nesting in upland tundra, mountain meadows, and elevated ridges in wetlands and floodplains. In eastern North America, their declining numbers have made blueberry barrens, peatlands, and airports host small populations. During migration, this species goes through airfields, agricultural fields, and pastures, but migrants can also turn up in unusual places like beaches or ballfields, especially when stranded due to foul weather. In South America, the species winters in grasslands called pampas or llanos, or in pastures or croplands. As deforestation has progressed, Upland Sandpipers are now frequent in the grasslands of the Andean regions of Colombia and Ecuador as well. During migration and on wintering grounds, they use habitats with shorter vegetation than those used for nesting.

Range and Migration

They breed from eastern Alaska southeast of the Rocky Mountains through Montana to northern Oklahoma and then northeast to Pennsylvania, New England, and extreme southern Quebec and Ontario. There are also local breeding populations in northeast Oregon and west-central Idaho. Migration seasons take them towards much of the United States, Mexico, and Central America, as they winter in north-eastern Argentina, Uruguay, and southern Brazil.

Upland Sandpiper Lifecycle

Upland Sandpipers likely only have one brood every season, with a brood having a clutch size of 2–7 pale buff to pinkish-buff eggs. Both parents take turns incubating the eggs for 22–27 days, with the chicks emerging fully covered in down and extremely active when they hatch. They are capable of leaving the nest very soon after hatching and quickly begin to feed themselves. Parents continue to tend to them and protect them until they learn to fly at about 30–31 days.

Nesting

Nest sites are places on the ground within dense vegetation in the prairies, upland tundra flats, mountain meadows, or in dry and ungrazed grasslands. These nests mainly consist of scrapes on the ground that are sometimes lined with grasses, leaves, and twigs. Some of these nests are concealed by overhanging grasses. Males begin the process of making the nest while the females finish it and add the lining while they are laying the eggs. The resulting proportions of the nest amount to 4.5 inches across and 1.7 inches deep.

Anatomy of an Upland Sandpiper

Upland Sandpipers are medium-sized birds that are about 11–12.6 inches in length with a weight of 3.4–8 ounces. They have long legs, a long, thin neck, a small Dovelike head, large eyes, and a thin and straight bill. Their long wings have a wingspan of 18.5 inches, while their tail is also long. These proportions make them larger than Lesser Yellowlegs, but slightly smaller than Greater Yellowlegs.

Final Thoughts

Although these birds have been listed as a species of low conservation concern due to an overall increase in their numbers, although population declines in some parts of the United States and Canada have led to them being listed as a species of concern in dozens of states and provinces. Historical hunting of the species has also negatively impacted their numbers quite a bit, along with other factors like loss of habitat to agriculture, and the use of pesticides and other practices that leave fewer residual crops.

Upland Sandpipers are a testimony to how animals can adapt to their surroundings by breaking away from their conventional features. These terrestrial birds are very much unlike sandpipers but continue to hold some fundamental similarities to them. They are curious birds in every aspect and generally confuse observers when they first catch a glimpse of them. Not only do they offer numerous insights into how a species evolves to new environments, but they also offer numerous questions about the very nature of these birds.

Ornithology

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Bird Watching Binoculars for Identifying Upland Sandpipers

The most common types of bird watching binoculars for viewing Upland Sandpipers are 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. Bird Watching Academy & Camp sells really nice 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. You can view and purchase them here.

Upland Sandpiper Stickers

Stickers are a great way for you to display your love for bird watching and the Upland Sandpiper. We sell a monthly subscription sticker pack. The sticker packs have 12 bird stickers. These sticker packs will help your kids learn new birds every month.

Bird Feeders ForUpland Sandpipers

There are many types of bird feeders. Bird feeders are a great addition to your backyard. Bird feeders will increase the chances of attracting birds drastically. Both kids and adults will have a great time watching birds eat at these bird feeders. There are a wide variety of bird feeders on the market and it is important to find the best fit for you and your backyard.

Bird HousesForUpland Sandpipers

There are many types of bird houses. Building a bird house is always fun but can be frustrating. Getting a bird house for kids to watch birds grow is always fun. If you spend a little extra money on bird houses, it will be well worth every penny and they’ll look great.