White-rumped Sandpiper

About the White-rumped Sandpiper

The White-rumped Sandpiper is a small, long-winged sandpiper and one of the latest spring migrants to pass through Texas. Its hidden field mark is the one in its name: a clean white band across the rump, visible only in flight. On the ground the best clue is shape. The wingtips extend well past the tail, giving the bird a long, attenuated rear end, and the fine dark streaks on the breast continue down along the flanks. It is slightly larger than a Least or Semipalmated Sandpiper.

The species makes one of the longest migrations of any bird. It breeds on high Arctic tundra in Canada and winters in southern South America, as far as Tierra del Fuego. In spring it travels north through the middle of the continent, and Texas lies squarely on that route.

White-rumped Sandpipers feed by walking and probing in shallow water and soft mud, often in mixed flocks with other small sandpipers. They are known for arriving late and moving fast. In Central Texas most pass through from early May into early June, when flooded fields and sewage ponds can briefly hold good numbers, and fall birds are far scarcer.

This bird was photographed at Hornsby Bend in Travis County on May 20, 2023, right in the heart of its spring passage.