spotted sandpiper

American  

noun

1. a North American sandpiper, Actitis macularia, that has brownish-gray upper parts and white underparts, and is spotted with black in the summer.

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spotted sandpiper British  

noun

1. Also called (US): peetweet.  a North American sandpiper, Actitis macularia, having a spotted breast in its breeding plumage

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Etymology

Origin of spotted sandpiper

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

Speaking of courtship after marriage, I am reminded of a spotted sandpiper, whose capers I amused myself with watching, one day last June, on the shore of Saco Lake.

From Birds in the Bush by Torrey, Bradford

We are treated to peeps into the nests of the orange-crowned warbler, the hermit thrush, and that shy wader, the spotted sandpiper.

From The New North by Cameron, Agnes Deans

He could give the drawn-out, plaintive “Ter-lee-ee!” call of the black-breasted plover, and find the crude nest of the spotted sandpiper nestling beneath a tall clump of candle-grass.

From A Scout of To-day by Hornibrook, Isabel

As I stepped out from a thicket on to the shingly bank of the river, a spotted sandpiper teetered along before me, followed by three young ones.

From Fisherman's Luck and Some Other Uncertain Things by Van Dyke, Henry

Another dainty person who haunts these same shallows is the spotted sandpiper, the much loved "teeter-tail."

From Sigurd Our Golden Collie and Other Comrades of the Road by Bates, Katharine Lee