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Least Sandpiper

© Fred J. Kane

Least Sandpiper Other name for the Least Sandpiper are: Peeps, Wilson's Stint, Ox Eye, Mud Peep, Sand Peep and Little Sand Peep

We the lovers of unspoiled nature, our grand beaches would seem empty if we didn't see flocks of Least Sandpipers scurrying gracefully along the water's edge, chased by the incoming waves. This bird, as tiny as can be is perhaps increasing in population thanks to the outlawing of shooting them. It will be a sad day when we need such a tiny thing for food when all they offer is a mere taste.

This bird is the smallest shorebirds of all the sandpipers in the world with an average length of about 4.75 inches as an adult and not heavier than an English Sparrow.

The sandpiper family includes curlews, godwits, sandpipers, snipes, dowitchers and others and all have long legs. All have four toes with an elevated hind toe. Their beaks are thin, long, and slender. Members of the sandpiper family have short tails and the females are usually larger than males.

The Least Sandpiper has a brown colored chest slightly spotted with black and a white stomach. They have a pale stripe over its eye. It has a small, slender, delicate and curved beak with yellow legs. The black stripe on its rump continues onto its tail. Both sexes are similar in color.

Adult alternate: The head of the Least Sandpiper is brown with a dark colored plumage and brown edges on its wing feathers. Its chest is brown with black spotted marks. The bird's stomach is ivory with a dusky colored crown.

The an average wing length is about 3 1/2 inches and the average tail length is about 1 1/2 inches long.

The Least Sandpipers breed in bogs and marshes with open areas and they build their nests in a hollow or a mere depression on the dry ground near water in the tundra in Central Alaska and across Northern Canada. They also breed in Nova Scotia, Magdalen Islands, the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Sable Islands. They line the nest with grasses and moss.

After mating the female Least Sandpiper lays four eggs, colored yellow, brown with chestnut and lavender colored spots. Usually the male bird sits on the eggs alone for about 21 days and then the new birds hatch and they have one brood each year.

The birds search for food on mud flats Their diet consists mainly of aquatic invertebrates like small crustaceans, mollusks, marine worms, snails and insects like mosquitoes, beach fleas and flies. Sometimes they find food by sight and sometimes by exploring the bottom of the mud flats with their bill. They will eat some plant matter.

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