The Bird that Dances All its Life
The Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis marcularius) is a shore bird that can be observed all year-round at Mandahl Bay. They are considered a medium-sized bird, but still are fairly small in stature. They are also quite wary of humans, so making a lot of noise reduces visitors chances of seeing them.
Adults in breeding mode sport a breast full of spots, giving rise to the name ‘Spotted Sandpiper’. When not breeding its chest becomes fully white. The young also have plain white breasts but also sport a light brown banding around the lower throat.
Young adults sometimes have a lighter brown band. Therefore, discerning young adults from juveniles can be tricky for any observer. This sandpiper has a reputation for being notoriously difficult to identify.
The Spotted Sandpiper does enjoy a quality unique to it among all other birds … it cannot stop dancing! Very soon after it can stand on wobbly feet, the young start to rhythmically bob their hind quarters up and down. This behavior continues throughout its life. The reason for this perpetual ‘booty-bobbing’ is a mystery to scientists. The bird only stops dancing in order to breed, when on the alert or when startled.
Perhaps the bird booty-bops in order to scare up flies to feast on. Spotted Sandpipers hunt a variety of land and water invertebrates and, occasionally, even tiny fish . Or maybe the bopping is defensive … the constant movement may prevent insects it feasts among from settling on the bird.
We can also observe that the folded wing feathers slap up and down against the tail feathers during bopping sessions. This action looks a lot like a jaw snapping open and close. Could this be a type of ‘mimicry’ that makes predators wary of attacking the bird from behind?
Well, while the big brains try to figure out a motive for the bop, we’ll just surmise for now that dancing is fun and birds just wanna have fun!
Here is a fun way to remember the Spotted Sandpiper’s scientific name – Actitis marcularius.
“This Active Bird is Marked as Curious and Hilarious“
Get it? ACTI-tis (Active) MARCu (Mark Curious) larius (Hilarious)
