Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla), Cross Creek Dairy, Florence, Pinal County

This Semipalmated Sandpiper was found and photographed by Sean Fitzgerald on 03 September 2016

A rare, but regular, fall transient in Arizona.

The subject bird is in the foreground in the first two images (with a juvenile Western in the background) and in the background in the last image (with a juvenile Western on the left and an adult Least on the right). This is a juvenile, indicated by the fresh buffy fringes on the upperparts. Semipalmated Sandpiper is a black legged, grayish, short billed peep. The short, straight bill, black legs, the lack of heavier black streaking or chevrons on the lower flanks, the short wing projection, and the lack of rufous edging on the back, scapulars, crown, and ear coverts all point to Semipalmated and away from any of the similar species. Note especially the bill shape in comparison to the Western Sandpiper: shorter, straighter, and more blunt-tipped.

03 September 2016, photo by Sean Fitzgerald

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