Ruff
Photo: Arjan Haverkamp · CC BY 2.0

Sandpipers and Allies

Ruff

Calidris pugnax

LCLeast Concern
Family
Sandpipers and Allies (Scolopacidae)
Order
Charadriiformes

Overview

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.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Breeds tundra and steppe of northwestern Europe from Scandinavia southward to northern Ukraine and eastward to far eastern Siberia; winters from central Europe southward through Africa, eastward through southern Asia to central Japan southward to Philippines.

Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.