birdWatch

Sandpipers 1/2

Scolopacidae: Calidris minuta (Little Stint)

Scolopacidae: Philomachus Pugnans (Ruff)

Scolopacidae: Actitis hypoleucos (Common Sandpiper)

Sandpipers are mainly birds of the water's edge, which eat worms and other invertebrates they find with their long bills. Because of the different lengths of their bills and legs, different species tend to find different things, and are thus able to cohabit in the same area. There are 33 kinds of sandpiper in Kenya, of which we saw six. None of them breed in Kenya, so these photos do not show the breeding plumage. Five were seen at Nakuru. The Wood Sandpiper was seen at Amboseli and Maasai Mara, but not Nakuru.

Common Sandpipers (about 20cm).

The white shoulder patch is distinctive.

A male Ruff in spring plumage (about 23cm)

A Little Stint (about 13cm)

Juvenile Ruff and winter female

Kenya Bird Index