The Least Sandpiper is a small shorebird marked by yellow-green legs. It breeds in northern North America and winters from the southern United States to northern South America.
It has yellowish-green legs, warm brown upperparts and a white belly.
During fall 2002 in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, researchers color-marked 293 Least Sandpipers at Bald Knob, Yazoo, and Morgan Brake National Wildlife Refuges. Later sightings estimated how long adults and juveniles stayed. Bald Knob shorebird habitat included a 32-ha impoundment slowly drawn down to expose mudflats; former catfish ponds at Yazoo were managed for waterbirds.
Estimated stays were 4.1 days for adults at Bald Knob; 6.5 days for adults and 6.1 for juveniles at Yazoo; and 6.9 days for juveniles at Morgan Brake. Body condition received only weak support as an explanation for stopover length. Estimates varied among refuges and age classes.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
At three wildlife refuges in Arkansas and Mississippi, researchers tracked marked Least Sandpipers during fall 2002 and estimated their stay. Wetland stopover areas, including managed ponds, were examined as sites used during migration.