Calidris ferruginea
L 8 1/2″ (22 cm).

Song or calls:
Soft, rippling “chirrup.”

Description: Long decurved black bill and long black legs. Distinctive white rump is visible in flight. Breeding plumage shows rich chestnut underparts and head, and mottled chestnut back. Female is paler version of male. Winter plumage is gray-brown above and white below; long white eyebrow stripe. Juveniles similar to winter birds but with browner underparts and buffy wash to neck and breast.

Habitat: Breeds on Arctic tundra, and during the winter prefers shorelines and muddy edges of freshwater ponds.

Where in Nebraska: Accidental. A Eurasian species that wanders into North America.

Fun Facts: Curlew sandpipers feed in flocks primarily on insects locating them by sight and all the while giving a chorus of low, soft notes.