Scolopacidae, the sandpiper family, is a large, cosmopolitan group of small to medium-sized shorebirds characterized by long bodies, narrow wings, and slender, sensitive bills used to probe mud, sand, and soil for small invertebrates. Most species exhibit brown, gray, or streaked plumage, with subtle breeding-season accents, and employ a variety of feeding styles—pecking, probing, wading, or surface-pecking—enabled by tactile receptors in their bill tips.
In Arizona, more than 17 Scolopacidae species have been documented, ranging from the diminutive Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) to the imposing Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus). Breeding residents include Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) and Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria), which nest along streams and ponds at various elevations, while passage migrants such as Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri), Baird’s Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii), and Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) congregate at wetlands during spring and fall migration. Larger migrants and winter visitors—Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa), Willet (Tringa semipalmata), and Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)—use desert playas and reservoir shorelines as stopover and wintering sites. Across the state, these shorebirds forage in riparian corridors, marshes, mudflats, and sandy shores, where their probing bills reveal insects, crustaceans, and other invertebrates hidden beneath the surface.