Trinidad: Solitary Sandpiper - Tringa solitaria

The Solitary Sandpiper, Tringa solitaria, breeds in or near the bogs of Alaska and all across Canada, sometimes using the nest of a songbird, and then heads well south for the winter. We saw this one in a marsh at the Aripo Livestock Station on Trinidad. Some Solitary Sandpipers winter in south Texas and south Florida, but most head well south to the West Indies and South America. They are usually seen on remote ponds, as the Solitary does not associate with other sandpipers.

At 8-9” the Solitary is bigger than the Spotted Sandpiper and a bit smaller than the similar appearing Lesser Yellowlegs. The Shorebird Guide by O’Brien et. al. has a good photo showing the 3 species together. The Solitary stands out, with its bold eye ring, long gray bill, and white spots on the back - easily separating it from the smaller Spotted Sandpiper. The Lesser Yellowlegs also has a white eye ring, but usually not this bold, and the Lesser has a black bill and bright yellow legs.

Taxonomy-
Scolipacidae is a large family of Shorebirds, comprising about 90 species. They vary in size from the large Curlews and Godwits down to the Least Sandpipers. The Tringine Sandpipers are an arbitrary group (sometimes called Tringinae) of about 18 assorted Scolipacid sandpipers, mostly medium sized birds with a long legs, relatively slender build, medium to long bills and white eye rings. Included here are the Redshanks and Greenshanks, Willet, Yellowlegs, Tattlers, and the Solitary, Spotted, Terek, Common and Green Sandpipers .

The 13 of the 18 Tringine sandpipers are in the genus Tringa, all but 3 with not subspecies.There are 2 subspecies of Solitary Sandpiper, with overlapping ranges, 2 subspecies of Willets; and 6 subspecies of Common Redshank.