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Bird of the Month
by Carolyn Preston

Spotted Sandpiper

The Spotted Sandpiper is found along the shores of lakes, rivers, and streams.  It is the most widespread sandpiper in North America.  Its characteristic teetering motion has earned them many nicknames.  Among them are teeter-peep, teeter-bob, jerk or perk bird and tip-tail.  The function of this teetering motion has not been determined.  Chicks teeter nearly as soon as they hatch from the egg.  The teetering gets faster when the bird is nervous, but stops when the bird is alarmed, aggressive or courting.

The Spotted Sandpipers eat mostly small invertebrates such as midges, mayflies, grasshoppers, beetles, worms, and snails.  They nest along the edge of a body of water typically under the shade of a broad-leafed plant.  The nest is a 2–3 inch depression scraped out in the soil and lined with dead grass and woody material. 

The female may mate with up to four males, each of which cares for a clutch of eggs.  The female establishes and defends the territory while the male takes the primary role in parental care, incubating the eggs and taking care of the young.  Each clutch may be from 3-5 eggs and there may be 1-5 broods a year.  The incubation period is 19-22 days with eggs that are pale green speckled with brown.  The chicks at hatching are downy, coordinated, eyes open and quickly able to begin eating and walking.

This breed is quite populous with a low conservation concern.  Their main concerns are loss of their wetland habitat and comprised water quality from pesticides, herbicides or other harmful runoff.  The oldest recorded Spotted Sandpiper was a male, and at least 12 years old.

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