While watching the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper in Two Rivers, there were a handful of other shorebirds. At the time, Semipalmated Sandpiper was assumed to be one of them. However, after reviewing the photos, it appears it could be a Western Sandpiper. Most of these photos are heavily cropped and not what I would normally keep or share, but for this ID they are needed. I wish I would’ve spent more time taking photos when it was closer, but all my attention was focused on the SHTS. I will list the differences between WESA and SESA below. Feel free to comment with your thoughts as to which ID you believe it to be. For ID purposes, this bird is in a basic nonbreeding plumage.
Western Sandpiper
- small, rather chunky shorebird
- longer, slightly drooping dark bill (bill length and shape is quite variable)
- larger head, heavier bodied look
- dark legs
- pale gray above, white below (nonbreeding plumage)
- little to no streaking on the breast
- whitish face
Semipalmated Sandpiper
- small shorebird with short neck and small head
- appears slimmer looking
- short, straight dark bill (bill length and shape is quite variable)
- dark legs
- faint streaking on breast
- clean flanks
- averages browner overall (nonbreeding plumage)
Beats me!!!
Wow!! This is a good one. I am not a pro at this, & I feel it could go either way, but if I had to choose one or the other I would say WESA. The bill “appears” to droop ever so slightly (as if male WESA). The upper breast streaking appears to be slightly more sparse & finer which appears indicative of WESA compared to a SESA (just observation from many pics I checked on web). Difficult for me to detect a “body shape” on this individual (rounded/smooth vs. slightly more “toned”). Too bad its not a big ole female, or standing right next to a SESA lol… but good for you!!! Glad you were there took all these pics, & also that you didn’t gloss over this when going through was was undoubtedly well over 1,000 pics & focus being on SHSA! Another one this year for the experienced professionals. Thanks for sharing & contributing to keeping birding interesting!