Column: These nearly identical birds fool even experienced birders

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 8, 2026

Identifying a bird is easy. Misidentifying a bird is even easier. The real trouble comes from troublesome pairs — two or more species that are almost identical. To avoid trouble, it helps to remember the key distinguishing features that separate these most challenging birds. Late summer is full of trouble. Shorebirds move through in big numbers over the next three weeks, and the little ones all look alike. Semipalmated sandpipers are slightly larger than least sandpipers, but slightly smaller than western sandpipers. Least sandpipers are browner with yellowish legs. Semipalmated sandpipers are brownish gray with dark legs. Western sandpipers are uncommon in the east but appear sporadically among the other peeps. They are about the same color as the others, with dark legs, but show a tiny bit of redness in the shoulders and on the crest. ~ Bob Duchesne