Spotted Sandpiper female displaying for males. Cherry Creek SP. Arapahoe

[Joe Roller]

On this cool rainy day I saw 8 Spotted Sandpipers at Pelican Point at Cherry Creek SP.

Spotted Sandpipers exhibit sex role reversal, just as phalaropes do, with females being dominant and displaying

to find willing males, which tend the nest and the chicks. "Spotty" plumages are the same in both sexes, so this phenomenon was not discovered until relatively recently, I read. It is easier to observe role reversal and polyandry in phalaropes, as the females sport the brighter plumage.

I saw a presumed female Spotted Sandpiper stretch tall and strut across a beach toward presumed males with her tail spread. Most cool.

There is also an aerial courtship display, but I did not see that.

Birds were plentiful at Cherry Creek SP, with diverse passerines, lots of Yellow-rumps and Chipping Sparrows, but nothing rare.

Joe Roller, Denver