The spotted sandpiper was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tringa macularia.

[3] The species is now placed together with common sandpiper in the genus Actitis and was introduced in 1811 by the German zoologist Johann Illiger.

[7] Non-breeding birds, depicted below, do not have the spotted underparts, and are very similar to the common sandpiper of Eurasia; the main difference is the more washed-out wing pattern visible in flight and the normally light yellow legs and feet of the spotted sandpiper.

They migrate to the southern United States, the Caribbean, and South America, and are very rare vagrants to western Europe.

Spotted sandpipers are the most widespread species of their kind in North America due to their high breeding rates and their ability to adapt to various environmental pressures.

[8] Breeding grounds are chosen based on various environmental factors but tend to be in the proximity of bodies of water that offer some coverage from vegetation.

[8] During each summer breeding season, females may mate with and lay clutches for more than one male, leaving incubation to them.

They eat insects (such as flies, beetles, grasshoppers, mayflies, midges, crickets and caterpillars),[12][13] crustaceans and other invertebrates (such as spiders, snails, other molluscs, and worms),[12][13] as well as small fish and carrion.

The main predators of spotted sandpipers include raptors, mustelids, mice, and gulls.

The destruction of their natural habitats due to increasing wildfires causes problems for breeding and raising offspring.