Great Salt Lake makes this county a shorebird hotspot — the distinctive waders (avocets, stilts, curlews) name themselves. Then there are the peeps and the dowitchers, which are the hardest sight-ID knot in the book. This keys what can be keyed, and tells you plainly where sight ID quits and you need a scope, a reference, or the bird's call.
Size, bill, and legs cut the field before any plumage.
Short bill, big head & eye, chunky. Runs, stops, pecks — a pluck-feeder, often away from water. Killdeer, Snowy.
Tiny, hunched, short fine bill. Sparrow-sized Calidris, feeding busily on mud. The genuinely hard group — start with leg colour (§03).
Medium, long-legged, straight-ish bill. Walks and picks — the yellowlegs, Solitary, Spotted, Willet. Legs and bill length do the work.
Tall, very long legs, long bill. The showpieces — bill shape names them: upturned (Avocet, Godwit), down-curved (Curlew), needle-straight (Stilt).
Tap through to a name — or to an honest "this needs a scope or a call."
The full key — follow the arrows.
Leg colour first, then bill shape — the tiny Calidris, side by side.
Ordered common → rare. Amber box = the clinching mark.
Charadrius vociferus
Our default plover, and the one not tied to water — lawns, gravel lots, fields. Two chest-bands separate it from every other plover here (one band = Semipalmated, see Don't import).
Recurvirostra americana
A Great Salt Lake signature bird, in big flocks on the shallows. The upcurved bill is unmistakable.
Himantopus mexicanus
A GSL and marsh breeder. The pink stilt-legs plus crisp black-and-white are unmistakable — nothing else is built like it.
Actitis macularius
Stream edges and shorelines, usually alone. The constant teetering bob IDs it even without the spots.
Tringa semipalmata
Bigger and plainer than the yellowlegs, with grey (not yellow) legs. The flashing wing pattern in flight is the giveaway.
Tringa melanoleuca
The bigger, longer-billed yellowlegs. Bill length and call separate it from Lesser (see pairs).
Limnodromus scolopaceus
Long- vs Short-billed Dowitcher is often a call, not a look (see Don't import) — most inland freshwater birds here are Long-billed.
Phalaropus tricolor
Great Salt Lake stages this species in globally significant numbers. Swimming-and-spinning is unlike any other sandpiper here.
Numenius americanus
Grasslands and wet fields. The huge sickle bill is unmistakable — far bigger and warmer-toned than a Whimbrel (see Don't import).
Limosa fedoa
Mudflats and shallows, often with avocets. Bill shape (upturned, two-toned) separates it from the down-curved curlew.
Calidris minutilla
Prefers drier mud and vegetated edges. Yellow legs are the fast peep clincher — but check them in good light; mud fakes it (see pairs).
Tringa flavipes
The smaller, finer-billed yellowlegs. Bill length (≈ head, straight) and call separate it from Greater (see pairs).
Anarhynchus nivosus
A Great Salt Lake beach and playa breeder. Very pale and small; the incomplete collar separates it from the fully-banded Semipalmated (see Don't import).
Tringa solitaria
Woodland pools, ditches and stream edges, not open flats. The white eye-ring, dark wings and solitary habit are the tells.
Calidris mauri
The common black-legged peep here. A longer drooped bill and black legs separate it from short-billed Semipalmated and yellow-legged Least (see pairs).
Gallinago delicata
Marsh and wet-meadow edges, often hidden until flushed. Striped head, long bill and skulking separate it from the open-mud dowitcher.
Phalaropus lobatus
Also stages on Great Salt Lake in big numbers. A finer bill and darker face separate it from the larger, pale-faced Wilson's Phalarope (see pairs).
Calidris bairdii
The "long-tailed" peep. Long-winged, attenuated shape, buffy tone and dry-edge habit separate it from Western and Least (see pairs).
Calidris melanotos
Grassy wet edges. The crisp streaked-bib boundary and larger size separate it from the true peeps.
Calidris alpina
A late-fall and winter visitor. The droop-tipped bill and hunched shape (plus the black belly in breeding) are the tells.
The classic knots — some of which don't fully untie.
Least vs Western
The core peep pair. Least has yellow-green legs, a fine short bill, a browner tone, and likes drier mud; Western has black legs, a longer bill drooped at the tip, rufous scapulars in breeding, and feeds in wetter mud. Leg colour first — in good light.
Greater vs Lesser Yellowlegs
Both bright-yellow-legged. Greater is bigger with a bill ~1.5× the head, slightly upturned and a loud 3–4-note call; Lesser is slimmer with a straight bill ≈ head length and a soft two-note call. Lone birds: judge bill length against the head.
Long-billed vs Short-billed Dowitcher
Honestly, often a call, not a look — a sharp keek (Long-billed) vs a mellow tu-tu-tu (Short-billed). Bill length overlaps and misleads. Inland freshwater favours Long-billed, but silent juveniles in fall are frequently best left as "dowitcher sp."
Wilson's vs Red-necked Phalarope
Both swim and spin. Wilson's is larger and pale-faced with a needle bill and often feeds wading; Red-necked is smaller with a dark cheek-patch and an even finer bill, and stays on open water. Face and size settle most.
Solitary vs Lesser Yellowlegs
Both slim, dark-backed Tringa. Solitary has greenish legs and a bold white eye-ring, prefers wooded pools, and bobs; Lesser has bright yellow legs, a plainer face, and works open flats. Leg colour and habitat cut it.
Baird's vs the small peeps
Baird's is a long-winged, attenuated black-legged peep — wingtips clearly past the tail — with a short straight bill and a buffy, scaly back, on drier upper edges. That elongated shape and warm tone separate it from the rounder Least and Western.
The sight-ID ceiling, the scarce regulars, and the rarities.
This is the group where a key legitimately runs out. Worn adults and drab juvenile peeps lose the bill and plumage cues; the two dowitchers often can't be split without the call. When the marks don't line up, the correct answer is "peep sp." or "dowitcher sp." — not a forced species. A scope, a reference (O'Brien, Crossley & Karlson, The Shorebird Guide), and patience beat any flowchart here.
Reported and not review, so they belong on your list; they're simply uncommon or hard enough that I left them off the cards: