Blending in with the crowd

I'd been hearing about a few Baird's Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii) observations recently, but I hadn't seen one myself yet this summer.  So I decided to try to find one in Bodega Harbor today (25 August 2018).

To make a long story short, after a couple of hours of searching, I finally found one!

My first view was on the tidal flats.  I had been scanning through thousands of Western Sandpipers (Calidris mauri) and Least Sandpipers (Calidris minutilla).  A few times I thought I heard a Baird's Sandpiper calling, but I couldn't find it.  Just when I was about to give up, I spotted it in the distance.

Below, you can see all three species of sandpipers:

 

The Baird's Sandpiper is on the left, a Western Sandpiper is on the right, and a Least Sandpiper is in the center foreground.

Here's another comparative view, with a Baird's Sandpiper and a Western Sandpiper:

 

This time the Baird's Sandpiper is on the right.  Note the much browner coloration overall, especially on the breast.  One of the most helpful characteristics to look for to separate Baird's Sandpipers from Western and Least sandpipers is the primary projection, i.e., how far the wing tips (the primaries) extend beyond the tail.  Although it can be subtle at first, Baird's Sandpipers have a noticeably longer primary projection, giving them a long, tapered appearance.

The birds flew off, but when I was walking back to the car, I found the Baird's Sandpiper again.  This time it was feeding along the wrack line:

 

This is a juvenile bird, so it's looking quite "sharp"— the feathers have nice neat edges, producing a scaly appearance on the back.

 

The Baird's Sandpiper was feeding very actively.  One time it caught (and ate) a large beach hopper (see below)!

 

P.S.  These smaller sandpipers can be hard to identify.  If you're interested in practicing, here are a few more photos and hints.  

First, a Western Sandpiper.  Note the (1) black legs; (2) relatively long, thick bill; and (3) overall gray appearance, with reddish highlights, especially on the scapulars (where the wing meets the back) and the mantle (back).  (There's quite a bit of variation in Western Sandpiper characteristics, but these are good ones to look for.) 

 

Second, a Least Sandpiper.  In contrast to the Western Sandpiper, note the (1) yellowish legs; (2) shorter, relatively narrow bill; and (3) overall brown appearance, especially on the neck/breast. 

 

Now here's a quiz (below) — which is the Western and which is the Least?

 

 

That's correct!  The Western Sandpiper is in the foreground and the Least Sandpiper is in the background. 

I can still remember the first time I was with a birding group that was identifying small sandpipers.  They all looked the same to me then, but after you look at enough of them, it gets easier to tell them apart.  If you focus on each bird and finding all of the important characteristics, with time and practice it will get easier to identify them. 

P.P.S.  For more photos of Baird's Sandpipers, you can review the post from 22 August 2016.