The Solitary Sandpiper is a graceful flyer who is always well groomed and dapper despite the fact that he can sometimes be found wading and hunting insects in smelly barnyard puddles and pig pens.
The bird is considered an inland sandpiper and found across the U.S. frequenting swamps, ponds, rivers, and lakes as well as the coastal shoreline.
The eastern race is found in our area where the Solitary Sandpiper is a spring and fall visitor.
Referred to as the 'woodland tattler', the bird is also seen in the woods and has been reported raising its young in abandoned nests of perching birds in trees and bushes four to forty feet from the ground.

Length: 8-9 inches (20-23 cm)

Physical characteristics: The Solitary Sandpiper is a rather small, long legged shorebird with a long dark bill and greenish to brownish legs. The sexes are similar with a dark grayish or sometimes brown head sporting a bold white eye ring. The buffy breast is dotted with brown, especially noticeable during the breeding season. The back of the bird is brownish to grayish with white spots and the dark rump is diagnostic. The black bars on a dark tail bordered with white outer feathers show when the bird is in flight. The flight pattern is buoyant with swallow-like wing beats. When on the ground the Solitary Sandpiper bobs and nods.

Voice: The voice is a high pitched Peet! or peet-weet-weet.

Breeding habitat:
The Solitary Sandpiper has been observed nesting in the old nest of perching birds (Ehrlich et. al. 1988) in trees near water. Nest in the taiga and muskeg.

Mating system:
The Solitary Sandpiper has been observed in noisy courtship displays. Both sexes take part in displaying their white tail feathers. The birds call with a rustling of wings, often rising several feet above the ground quivering and rapidly beating the wings. The males strut about spreading their tails. Some observers have noted the female having clutches with more then one male in a single season.

Nest:
The Solitary Sandpiper builds a nest of grass or may take over abandoned nest of perching birds.

Eggs:
Four eggs are generally laid. The fragile shells are light greenish or buff heavily spotted with reddish brown.

Chick development:
The downy chicks are precocious.

Diet:
The bird probes the shoreline for aquatic insects, larvae, worms and grubs, small crustaceans and frogs. It is also capable of catching insects on the wing.

Breeding: The Solitary Sandpiper's range is large. The bird nests in Canada and as far north as Alaska.

Winter: The bird winters in the West Indies and South America, infrequently remaining as far north as the gulf states.

The Solitary Sandpiper visits the park on its spring and fall migrations, as early as mid-May and as late as the first week in October. The bird has been seen at Cades Cove, Tremont, Park Headquarters, Elkmont, and at Cataloochee.

References:

Bent, Arthur C. 1929. Life Histories of North American Shore Birds, Part Two. Dover Publications, Inc., New York .

Ehrlich, P. R., D. S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The Birder?s Handbook. Simon and Schuster, New York .

Gough, G. A., Sauer, J. R., Iliff, M. Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter. 1998. Version 97.1. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD.

Peterson, Roger T. 2002. Birds East of the Rockies . Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston .

Potter, E. F., J. F. Parnell, and R. P. Teulings. 1990. Birds of the Carolinas . University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill .

Robbins C. S., B. Brunn, and H. S. Zim. 2001. Birds of North America . Golden Press New York, Western Publishing Co., Inc. Racine, Wisconsin .

Stupka, A. 1963. Notes on the Birds of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park . University of Tennessee Press.