Spotted Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper has edged up: up 16% on the route-weighted index since 1968.
About the Spotted Sandpiper
The Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) is a North American member of the Sandpipers & Allies (Scolopacidae). In this analysis it is grouped with the shorebirds.
- Size
- 5–26 in long (13–66 cm) — a probing shorebird (typical for the family)
- Habitat
- Shorelines, mudflats, beaches, flooded fields and wet meadows.
- Diet
- Invertebrates probed or picked from mud, sand and shallow water.
- Range
- Recorded on 1,536 Breeding Bird Survey routes across 44 states, most concentrated in the Northern Rockies.
- Family
- Scolopacidae · Shorebirds
Notable Spotted Sandpiper Trends
No notable trend signals for Spotted Sandpiper. See the full index history below.
Spotted Sandpiper Population Forecast
If the recent trend holds, Spotted Sandpiper is projected to rise about 34% by 2029 — from 0.17 in 2024 to a central estimate of 0.23 (95% range 0.15–0.30). A 5-year backtest shows a typical error of ±47.1%, with 40% of held-out values landing inside the 95% band.
| Year | Projected index | 95% low | 95% high |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.22 | 0.15 | 0.30 |
| 2026 | 0.23 | 0.15 | 0.30 |
| 2027 | 0.23 | 0.15 | 0.30 |
| 2028 | 0.23 | 0.15 | 0.30 |
| 2029 | 0.23 | 0.15 | 0.30 |
Where the Spotted Sandpiper Is Detected
BBS routes recording Spotted Sandpiper, sized by most recent count.
Spotted Sandpiper Population Trend by State
| Alabama | insufficient data | n/a | 2 |
| Alaska | +100% | 1975 | 87 |
| Arizona | -62% | 1978 | 9 |
| California | -50% | 1970 | 105 |
| Colorado | -25% | 1970 | 96 |
| Connecticut | +11% | 1974 | 14 |
| Delaware | insufficient data | n/a | 2 |
| Georgia | insufficient data | n/a | 2 |
| Idaho | -58% | 1970 | 56 |
| Illinois | -33% | 1972 | 43 |
| Indiana | -56% | 1970 | 30 |
| Iowa | +176% | 1970 | 30 |
| Kansas | insufficient data | n/a | 9 |
| Kentucky | insufficient data | n/a | 3 |
| Maine | +2% | 1975 | 47 |
| Maryland | -1% | 1977 | 8 |
| Massachusetts | +37% | 1969 | 13 |
| Michigan | -89% | 1968 | 65 |
| Minnesota | -60% | 1969 | 56 |
| Missouri | insufficient data | n/a | 9 |
| Montana | +9% | 1970 | 83 |
| Nebraska | +98% | 1972 | 21 |
| Nevada | -63% | 1971 | 14 |
| New Hampshire | -58% | 1968 | 20 |
| New Jersey | +5% | 1970 | 8 |
| New Mexico | -79% | 1970 | 11 |
| New York | -92% | 1968 | 91 |
| North Carolina | insufficient data | n/a | 3 |
| North Dakota | +380% | 1970 | 47 |
| Ohio | -39% | 1968 | 32 |
| Oklahoma | insufficient data | n/a | 5 |
| Oregon | -40% | 1970 | 95 |
| Pennsylvania | -93% | 1968 | 53 |
| Rhode Island | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| South Dakota | +35% | 1969 | 28 |
| Tennessee | insufficient data | n/a | 2 |
| Texas | insufficient data | n/a | 4 |
| Utah | -70% | 1973 | 49 |
| Vermont | -62% | 1968 | 20 |
| Virginia | -56% | 1970 | 10 |
| Washington | -22% | 1970 | 85 |
| West Virginia | -85% | 1970 | 12 |
| Wisconsin | -67% | 1968 | 72 |
| Wyoming | -17% | 1971 | 84 |
Spotted Sandpiper Population Trend by Region
Bird Conservation Regions are the ecological unit for trends.
| BCR 2 | -50% | 1990 | 16 |
| BCR 4 | +200% | 1976 | 52 |
| Northern Pacific Rainforest | -57% | 1970 | 104 |
| Great Basin | -23% | 1970 | 153 |
| Northern Rockies | -29% | 1970 | 178 |
| Prairie Potholes | +501% | 1969 | 96 |
| Boreal Hardwood Transition | -88% | 1968 | 67 |
| Lower Great Lakes / St. Lawrence Plain | -87% | 1968 | 70 |
| Atlantic Northern Forest | -85% | 1968 | 93 |
| Sierra Nevada | -14% | 1973 | 22 |
| Southern Rockies / Colorado Plateau | -20% | 1970 | 124 |
| Badlands and Prairies | -79% | 1969 | 64 |
| Shortgrass Prairie | -29% | 1981 | 25 |
| Central Mixed Grass Prairie | +114% | 1973 | 18 |
| Eastern Tallgrass Prairie | -19% | 1968 | 101 |
| Prairie Hardwood Transition | -65% | 1968 | 121 |
| Central Hardwoods | -45% | 1971 | 13 |
| Appalachian Mountains | -96% | 1968 | 96 |
| Piedmont | -66% | 1975 | 16 |
| New England / Mid-Atlantic Coast | +2% | 1969 | 39 |
| Coastal California | -54% | 1973 | 35 |
| Sierra Madre Occidental | -67% | 1983 | 6 |
Spotted Sandpiper Conservation Status
Our route-weighted index shows it up about 16% since 1968. Many shorebirds have declined steeply, reflecting pressure on the coastal and wetland stopovers they depend on.
Source: USGS North American Breeding Bird Survey, retrieved 2026-05-22. Trend is a route-weighted relative-abundance index, not an absolute population.