| Upland Sandpiper | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Scolopacidae |
| Genus: | Bartramia Lesson, 1831 |
| Species: | B. longicauda |
| Binomial name | |
| Bartramia longicauda (Bechstein, 1812) |
|
The Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) is a large shorebird, closely related to the curlews (Thomas, 2004). Older names are the Upland Plover and Bartram's Sandpiper. It is the only member of the genus Bartramia. The genus name and the old common name Bartram's Sandpiper commemorate the American naturalist William Bartram. The name "Bartram's Sandpiper" was made popular by Alexander Wilson, who was taught ornithology and natural history illustration by Bartram.
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The adult is 28–32 cm long with a 50–55 cm wingspan. It has long yellow legs and a long neck and tail. The head and neck are light with brown streaks. The back and upper wings are a darker mottled brown and the belly is white.
The breeding habitat is open grasslands and fields across central North America and Alaska; it is not associated with water like other sandpipers. It is a long-distance migrant and winters in South America. It is a very rare vagrant to Europe, notably the Isles of Scilly, where it can be extremely tame, with at least one bird taking worms from a birder's mouth.
Upland Sandpipers forage in fields, picking up food by sight. They are frequently sighted on fence posts and even telephone poles. The Upland Sandpiper's diet includes grasshoppers, crickets, weevils, beetles, moths, ants, flies, bugs, centipedes, millipedes, spiders, snails and earthworms. It also eats some grains and seeds.
Upland Sandpipers can sometimes be found in small, loose nesting colonies. The breeding season is from early-to-late summer; nests are located on the ground in dense grass. The female lays 4 eggs. Both parents look after the young and may perform distraction displays to lure predators away from the nest or young birds.
Upland Sandpipers can be identified by a distinctive call, sometimes called a "wolf whistle", which features a long, ascending whistle followed by a second rising and/or falling call. These sounds are often made while the bird is landing or while flying high.[1]
The numbers of these birds increased as forests were cleared in the early 19th century, but declined sharply in the late 19th century due to hunting. They are now regularly present in Midwestern North America but populations are scattered in the east.
Loss of prairie habitat is a concern.[1] Also, livestock grazing has been found to reduce the number of nests in a field.[2] Controlled burns may benefit this species as they feed on low-growing plants that are more easily spotted after a fire.[3]