Ruff

About the Ruff

The ruff (Calidris pugnax) is a medium-sized wading bird that breeds in marshes and wet meadows across northern Eurasia. This highly gregarious sandpiper is migratory and sometimes forms huge flocks in its winter grounds, which include southern and western Europe, Africa, southern Asia and Australia. The ruff is a long-necked, pot-bellied bird. This species shows marked sexual dimorphism; the male is much larger than the female (the reeve), and has a breeding plumage that includes brightly coloured head tufts, bare orange facial skin, extensive black on the breast, and the large collar of ornamental feathers that inspired this bird's English name. The female and the non-breeding male have grey-brown upperparts and mainly white underparts.

Source: Wikipedia

Classification

Scientific name

Calidris pugnax

Family

Sandpipers and Allies

Order

Charadriiformes

Similar species

Other members of the sandpipers and allies family recorded in North America — a useful place to start if you are not certain of your identification.

• American Woodcock Scolopax minor
• Baird's Sandpiper Calidris bairdii
• Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica
• Black Turnstone Arenaria melanocephala
• Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa
• Bristle-thighed Curlew Numenius tahitiensis
• Broad-billed Sandpiper Calidris falcinellus
• Buff-breasted Sandpiper Calidris subruficollis
• Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia
• Common Redshank Tringa totanus
• Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
• Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago