Upland Sandpiper

Upland Sandpiper

NPS/Luke Seitz

 

Barramia longicauda
Family: Scolopacidae

On cool August nights you can hear their whistled signals as they set wing for the pampas, to prove again the age-old unity of the Americas. Hemisphere solidarity is new among statesmen, but not among the feathered navies of the sky. ----Aldo Leopold

A grassland inhabitant, the Upland Sandpiper is a unique shorebird in that it is entirely terrestrial and rarely found in coastal or wetland habitats. Dependent on grassland habitats, it’s often considered an indicator of tallgrass prairie health. Well-adapted for the grasslands, its cryptic plumage keeps it well hidden in this environment; however, it’s distinctive “wolf-whistle” sound, whooooleeeeee, wheeelooooo-ooooo, will alert you to its presence and it as memorable as the cries of wolves or loons. Though nearly 70% of the breeding population occurs in the Great Plains of North America, Upland Sandpipers also journey to Alaska and Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve to breed.

 

Species Profile

Breeding Habitat: Nests in tall grass and sedge of the upland tundra and amidst scattering of tall willows. Nest consists of a scrape that is lined with vegetation during egg-laying.

Behavior: Best known by its “wolf-whistle” sound. Has a nervous gait like a plover- running for a short distance, stopping briefly, and then running again. Elaborate courtship behavior includes an aerial display where the pair rises from feeding in unison in an aerial circle 200–300 meters in diameter, sometimes crossing paths, generally at a height of about 30 m (but may be up to 400 meters); when they come to within 1 meter of the other, they make a rapid, nearly vertical, descent to ground. Chicks are precocial after hatch, but top-heavy, slow, and clumsy for several days. After about a week, the chicks are extremely active in finding food.

Where to find in the park: Upland tundra

Migration: A Neotropical long-distance migrant that migrates between breeding areas in s. Canada and n. U.S. and wintering areas in South America. This long-distance migrant leaves their wintering areas in the Pampas of South America each February to arrive in Alaska by mid-May. Capable of long flights, they can reach South America within a week on their return trip in the fall. Both spring and fall migrations follow a south-north and then north-south route through the Great Plains and Central America.

Interesting Fact: In Interior Alaska, Upland Sandpipers formed 5% of prey remains in nests of Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) along the Porcupine River, with other fresh Upland Sandpiper remains identified in eyries along the upper Yukon and Tanana Rivers.

Conservation and Management: Upland Sandpipers are listed as one of seven most significant breeding shorebird species, in the Prairie Habitat Joint Venture, because of population declines across their range. Once numerous on the Great Plains, overhunting in the late 1800s and later loss of grassland habitat for breeding led to population declines across portions of the region and in Canada. Upland Sandpipers are a species of conservation concern in 22 US states and listed as Endangered or Threatened in the eastern US and portions of the Midwest and a species of Special Concern in portions of the Great Plains.The sustainability of populations in alpine meadows in Alaska, Yukon, southwest Mackenzie, British Columbia, and the Rocky Mountain states, and other grasslands in the northeastern United States, requires urgent assessment.

 

Upland Sandpiper abundance in the Americas.

Fink, D., T. Auer, A. Johnston, M. Strimas-Mackey, O. Robinson, S. Ligocki, W. Hochachka, C. Wood, I. Davies, M. Iliff, L. Seitz. 2020. eBird Status and Trends, Data Version: 2019; Released: 2020. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York.

 

More Information

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Upland_Sandpiper/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - Migratory Bird Program | Conserving America's Birds (fws.gov)

References

Houston, C. S., C. Jackson, and D. E. Bowen Jr. (2020). Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi-org.arlis.idm.oclc.org/10.2173/bow.uplsan.01

Media

Audio https://www.nps.gov/media/video/view.htm?id=7638297E-5F7C-449A-BA18-53CF9D10E898

 

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