All birds/Scolopacidae/Ruff
AI reconstruction of Ruff (Calidris pugnax)AI

AI reconstruction created with Nano Banana 2 · 1K, grounded in the profile’s documented taxonomy, habitat, natural-history sources, and an open-license visual reference when available. It is an interpretive image, not documentary evidence. Image policy

PRB-0118Charadriiformes

Ruff

Combatiente

Calidris pugnax

Accidental / vagrantIUCN LC · Least Concern

The Ruff (Calidris pugnax) is a medium-sized migratory shorebird associated with wetlands. Breeding males develop highly variable ornamental head tufts and shaggy neck ruffs and display communally at leks; females are smaller and brown-and-white. Outside breeding plumage it resembles a more typical sandpiper and feeds mainly on insects and other invertebrates. It breeds across northern Eurasia, and a small number of vagrants reach North America. In Puerto Rico it is an accidental or vagrant species.

FamilyScolopacidaeSandpipers and Allies
Puerto Rico occurrenceAccidental / vagrantAvibase inferred core 380
Primary habitatwetlandsWetland
Primary dietInvertebrateAquatic predator
Average mass156 gGlobal trait estimate
MovementMigratoryTerrestrial

Sound archive

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XC903292Recording 1 of 3call
Spectrogram of Ruff: call
SpectrogramCalidris pugnax

Play: call by Lars Edenius

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Sound recorded by Lars Edenius · XC903292 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Visualization by Stichting Xeno-canto voor Natuurgeluiden.

Every recording retains the creator, catalogue number, and license published by Xeno-canto. Metadata via GBIF

Island profile

Catalog scopeAvibase inferred core 380

About the Ruff

The Ruff (Calidris pugnax) is a medium-sized migratory shorebird associated with wetlands. Breeding males develop highly variable ornamental head tufts and shaggy neck ruffs and display communally at leks; females are smaller and brown-and-white. Outside breeding plumage it resembles a more typical sandpiper and feeds mainly on insects and other invertebrates. It breeds across northern Eurasia, and a small number of vagrants reach North America. In Puerto Rico it is an accidental or vagrant species.

Conservation

Least Concern

IUCN LC

Global IUCN
LC
Puerto Rico DNER
No current listing in source crosswalk
Federal ESA
No current listing in source crosswalk
Critical habitat
Not identified in source crosswalk

Natural history

How it lives

Habitat
wetlands
Elevation
0–1000 m
Nest
Scrape · Grass
Clutch
3–4 eggs
Social behavior
Colonial; Social / flocking; Solitary; Lekking

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This bird belongs to 6 paths through the atlas.

Evidence trail

Sources, media & further reading