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

The spotted sandpiper will run along the stones before you, crying, "wet-feet, wet-feet!" and bowing and teetering in the friendliest manner, as if to show you the way to the best pools.

From Little Rivers; a book of essays in profitable idleness by Van Dyke, Henry

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

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

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

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