Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
Learn more about these drawings.
Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds
Photo: Richard Crossley/Vireo
Upland Sandpiper
Bartramia longicauda
| Conservation status | Numbers probably increased in the early days of settlement, up through the early 1800s, as forest was turned into farmland in eastern North America. During the period of commercial hunting in the late 1800s, great numbers were shot, and the population dropped sharply. Since that time, Upland Sandpipers have recovered in a few areas. Their numbers are apparently holding steady on parts of Great Plains, but in much of the east and northeast they are now very local. |
|---|---|
| Family | Sandpipers |
| Habitat | Grassy prairies, open meadows, fields. Favored nesting habitat is native grassland, with mixture of tall grass and broad-leafed weeds. In the northeast, where natural grassland is now scarce, may be found most often on airports. In migration, stops on open pastures, lawns. Almost never on mudflats or other typical shorebird habitats. |
Photo Gallery
Feeding Behavior
Forages by walking through the grass, with rather abrupt or jerky movements, picking up items from ground or from vegetation.
Eggs
4. Pale buff to pinkish-buff, lightly spotted with reddish-brown. Incubation is by both sexes, 22-27 days. Young: Downy young leave nest soon after hatching. Both parents tend young, but young feed themselves. If nest or young are threatened, adults perform distraction display to lead predators away. Age of young at first flight about 30-31 days.
Young
Downy young leave nest soon after hatching. Both parents tend young, but young feed themselves. If nest or young are threatened, adults perform distraction display to lead predators away. Age of young at first flight about 30-31 days.
Diet
Mostly insects, some seeds. Feeds on a wide variety of insects, including many grasshoppers, crickets, beetles and their larvae, moth caterpillars, and many others; also spiders, centipedes, earthworms, snails. Also eats some seeds of grasses and weeds, and waste grain in fields.
Nesting
Male displays over breeding territory in song-flight, with shallow, fluttering wingbeats and drawn-out whistles, often very high above the ground. May nest in loose colonies, with all the pairs in a local area going through stages of nesting (egg-laying, hatching, etc.) at almost exactly the same time. Nest site is on ground among dense grass, typically well hidden, with grass arched above it. Nest (probably built by both sexes) is shallow scrape on ground, lined with dry grass.
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- All Seasons - Common
- All Seasons - Uncommon
- Breeding - Common
- Breeding - Uncommon
- Winter - Common
- Winter - Uncommon
- Migration - Common
- Migration - Uncommon
Songs and Calls
Alarm call a mellow quip-ip-ip-ip. On breeding grounds and at night during migration, a long, mournful, rolling whistle.Upland Sandpiper In the News More News
Conservation
The Kirtland’s Warbler Has Recovered, But the Hard Work of Saving It Will Never Stop
Sustained management is the only way to prevent a population backslide once the bird sheds its endangered status later this year.
News
50 Years Later, America's Breeding Bird Survey Keeps Delivering New Insights
To celebrate the count's 50th anniversary, a set of newly published papers show how valuable the project's volunteer-driven dataset is to conservation.
Upland Sandpiper Across Audubon
Grassland Birds
Developing market-based management of dwindling prairie habitat that benefits birds and ranchers alike
