any of numerous usually small wading birds having a slender bill and piping call; closely related to the plovers
a small bird with long legs and a long beak that lives near the shore. Any of numerous shorebirds (family Scolopacidae) found either breeding or wintering nearly worldwide. Sandpipers, 6-12 in. (15-30 cm) long, have a moderately long bill and legs, long, narrow wings, and a fairly short tail. Their plumage has a complicated "dead-grass" pattern of browns, buffs, and blacks above, white or cream below. They run along ocean and inland beaches and mudflats, picking up insects, crustaceans, and worms and uttering thin, piping cries. Many species migrate in great flocks, from the Arctic to South America and New Zealand
Any one of numerous species of small limicoline game birds belonging to Tringa, Actodromas, Ereunetes, and various allied genera of the family Tringidæ
A small brownish-gray North American shore bird (Actitis macularia) that in summer acquires white underparts with many small black spots. Also called peetweet
A large brownish sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) inhabiting the fields and uplands of southern Canada and the northern United States east of the Rocky Mountains. Also called upland plover