Spotted Sandpiper
(Actitis macularius)

Overview

Summary

© Ted Krug
For additional photos and vocalizations, visit Dendroica. (Link opens in a new window.)

The Spotted Sandpiper has the most widespread breeding range of any North American sandpiper (Reed et al. 2013), breeding across much of Canada, north to the treeline. This conspicuous shorebird is typically found in sparsely vegetated habitats near water but uses a wide variety of habitats including grasslands and forest. Results from the Breeding Bird Survey suggest that the Spotted Sandpiper population in Canada experienced a moderate decrease relative to about 1970. The cause of this decline remains unknown. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe
• Breeding Bird Survey (BBS): Relative Abundance and Breeding Distribution (1993-2012)

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

The Spotted Sandpiper breeds throughout most of North America. Disturbance, habitat loss and exposure to contaminants are all potential threats to Spotted Sandpiper populations (Reed et al. 2013), but documentation of effects is lacking.

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Reed, J.M., L.W. Oring, and E.M. Gray. 2013. Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Reed, J.M., L.W. Oring, and E.M. Gray. 2013. Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)