BirdWatching USA – September-October 2019

idtips BY KENN KAUFMAN • PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRIAN E. SMALL

The name of the Wandering Tattler sounds

fanciful and fictional, but it’s actually a fitting

title. “Wandering” is no exaggeration. The

coastal wintering range of this sandpiper

spans the Pacific, from California and

Ecuador west to Australia, and just about

every archipelago and island in between:

Hawaii, Galapagos, Polynesia, Samoa, Fiji,

and more. “Tattler” is appropriate, too: When

this modest-looking bird takes f light from a

wave-washed rock, its loud, ringing trill

ensures that everyone will know about it.

In terms of habitat and surroundings, the

Wandering Tattler leads a double life. Most

birders see it in the non-breeding season,

along the coast on rocky shorelines. For

breeding, however, it goes to the interior of

Alaska and parts of northwestern Canada and

extreme eastern Siberia, nesting near streams

in the mountains. The first nest was not

Wandering Tattler, non-breeding adult August in Ventura County, California

Narrow pale eyebrow

above heavy dark line

through lores

Size and shape. Medium-sized sandpiper with fairly short legs

and thin, straight bill.

Face pattern. Thick dark line through the lores (from bill to eye)

with a poorly defined pale supraloral line (short eyebrow) above it.

Pattern of underparts. Breeding adult heavily barred gray and

white. Juvenile and winter adult with gray chest and flanks,

white belly.

Habitat and behavior. Favors rocky shorelines at ocean’s edge

for most of year. Walks actively on rocks, bobbing hindquarters

up and down.

Flight pattern. Entirely gray above, with no white on wings,

rump, or tail, unlike most shorebirds.

What to look for

Relatively short,

thick, yellow legs

Mostly plain gray

on upperparts,

chest, and flanks

Wandering Tattler

Straight bill,

noticeably longer

than head

Horizontal stance

with long-bodied,

long-winged look

44 BirdWatching • September/October 2019

Often bobs rear part

of body up and down

while standing