Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla), Lake Cochise, Willcox, Cochise County

This Semipalmated Sandpiper was found and photographed by Dave Stejskal on 22 April 2016

In the top photo it is the top bird and in the bottom photo it is the right most bird.

Casual spring migrant statewide, with many records coming from Willcox. It is a rare but regular migrant statewide in the fall.

Semipalmated Sandpiper always shows black legs and a short, stout, straight bill without any droop to the tip, helping to separate it from Western Sandpiper in any plumage. In alternate plumage, which this bird is in, the lack of rusty feathering in the crown and in the back also help to separate it from Western. Also at this season, the spotting/streaking on the underparts of Semipalmated is restricted to the breast and upper flanks, with maybe a streak or two present on the mid-flanks. Western at this season shows dense black spotting/streaking on the breast, which extends down the flanks, often as large black chevrons, to nearly the undertail. Westerns usually look a bit more attenuated in the tail/wing tips area than does Semipalmated.

22 April 2016, photo by Dave Stejskal