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Buff-breasted Sandpipers are small waders. Their plumage is cryptic. When seen in Europe, they are usually (but not always) in eclipse plumage. In breeding plumage the head and neck are rufous, with dark-grey streaking on the cap and nape of the neck and dark-grey spots on the rest of the neck and breast. The rest of the underparts is white. The upperparts show a striking scaly pattern of light-grey, white and black. During the non-breeding season they have a white front, except for some grey wash on the shoulders. Except for the white frons and inconspicuous white eyebrows, the head is light-grey. The back is grey with a brownish tinge, with dark-grey central lines and light-grey edge lining on the wing feathers. In-flight they show a conspicuous, broad white wing bar and a longitudinal black bar along the centre of the uppertail. During the breeding season, some birds develop a crisper white front and a darker back, with more prominent scalloping on the wings, while others develop a rich chestnut front (down to the chest) and head that are scalloped light-grey. The back turns chestnut, with dark-grey patches and light-grey edge lining on the wing feathers. The eyes have dark irises. The black bill is straight and about as long as the size of the head. The legs and feet are black. The legs are short, giving the species a "dumpy" appearance. In flight the feet do not protrude beyond the tail. Juveniles roughly resemble non-breeding adults, but they have a crisper scaly pattern on their back and a less pronounced cap. They also have pale eye-rings.

The correct identification of waders ("shorebirds"), e.g. of the Calidris, Tringa, Actitis etc. or of the Charadrius, Pluvialis and related genera in the field can be quite tricky. We have therefore made an attempt to give some advice HERE.

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper is available HERE .

Buff-breasted Sandpipers are a migratory that is normally found only on the American continents. They breed in open tundra in northern central Canada and Alaska. Most migrate southward via the North-American plains towards the Gulf of Mexico. Part of the population will stay in the central and eastern to south-eastern parts of the North-American continent, while others continue to central America and on to South America, in particular the Argentinian pampas. Some migrants are usually found in western Europe, others in Hawaii.

In Europe Buff-breasted Sandpipers are seen only as occasional vagrants, mostly in coastal areas around the British Isles and Ireland, but also along the continental coast and the Baltic and Mediterranean coast. Some individuals have been found along major rivers and on inland lakes, as far eastward as a line connecting the Finnish/Russian border with the western coast of the Black Sea.

Outside their breeding season Buff-breasted Sandpipers have a preference for coastal habitats.

J. Pires reports finding a Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Lagoa da Salgueirinha, Palmela, Portugal, in August 2022. All sighting and photographic information presented on this page has been kindly contributed by J. Pires.

A Buff-breasted Sandpiper was previously found by us in Australia.