Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)

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Abundance: Fairly Common during spring and fall; Uncommon during summer (mainly as a late spring or early fall migrant but Occasional as a breeder [1 record]); Occasional during winter (2 records); recorded in 25 Regional counties (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are too few to determine a trend in the populations migrating through, breeding in, or wintering in the Region (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Transient during spring, summer, and fall; Occasional Visitor during summer and winter; photograph (see link below).

Regional High Count: 27 (5 May 1991; Putnam County, Tennessee; Stephen J. Stedman, Barbara H. Stedman); SBC/SBB High Count: 22 (10 May 2008; Putnam County, Tennessee [SBC]; m. ob); FBC/FBB High Count: 4 (4 October 2008; White County, Tennessee [FBC]; m. ob.).

Out-of-Season (Winter) Records:

1–19 December 1998 (1–2) Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman et al.), a CBC record (19 December 1998) in part.

5–23 December 2002 (1) National Fish Hatchery, Celina, Clay County, Tennessee (Terry M. Campbell), a CBC record (18 December 2002) in part.

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Spring: x (

    Fall: x (

    Note: Spring arrival generally widespread by 20 April; fall departure generally complete by 20 October. Because this shorebird occasionally breeds in the Region (see Breeding [below]), the Regional dates of latest reported spring departure and earliest reported fall arrival are not provided (and probably overlap in any case); the Regional dates of earliest reported spring arrival and latest reported fall departure for 2002–2011 follow:

* See also Out-of-Season (Winter) Records (above).

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent); four juvenile Spotted Sandpipers with downy feathers still evident on their heads and tails were noted 2 July 2002 at Clifty Pond near Science Hill, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton photo), establishing the first Regional breeding record; the juvenile Spotties preyed heavily on butterflies (Roseanna M. Denton, pers. com.).

Habitat: Edges of ponds and lakes, both muddy and rocky; streams, creeks, and rivers with open edges and/or with emergent rocks, logs, and other debris in the main current.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 1 (of 125) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 2 (of 206) check-lists during 2004, resulting in a YardWatch frequency classification of Rare during each year; this YardWatch frequency classification is inconsistent with the overall Regional abundance classification except during winter and indicates that the Spottie is much less likely to be encountered in Regional yards and neighborhoods than in the Region as a whole.

Foray Results: A summary of data for late spring transients from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Remarks: Spotted Sandpipers occasionally escape from avian predators by plunge-diving into open water and submerging; this behavior was witnessed at Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman), where a Spottie escaped a Cooper's Hawk in this manner.

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited