Ruff
Calidris pugnax
IUCN status: Least concern
Ruff. Near Lindum. Qld. Robert Bush.
Identification
Non-breeding: Head and neck grey-brown. Off-white chin, throat and around bill giving distinctive pale open faced appearance. Indistinct smudge in front of eye. Upperparts have scalloped streaked appearance.Breast and foreflanks mottled light grey-brown. Bill mostly black. Legs pinkish red to orange red. Some variation.
Male Supplemental plumage: Extraordinary. See photo.
Male breeding plumage: Similar to supplemental plumage but lacks facial warty skin, tufts and ruff.
Female breeding plumage: head and neck heavily streaked and barred. Highly patterned upperparts with balck, brown, white and sometimes rufous tones. Legs and feet orange. Bill black brown , sometimes with orange base.
Confusing Species
None
Distribution
Distribution
Vagrant to Australia, but reports most years.
Migratory habits
Migrates south to Africa and India
Breeding
Breeds in northern Eurasia.
Recent Sightings of Ruff in Queensland
| Location | State | Sighting period |
| Lota foreshore | Qld | Nov 2022 |
| Kianawah Road Wetland | Qld | May 2014 |
| Murarrie | Qld | Dec 2003 |
| Port of Brisbane – Lytton Claypan | Qld | Sept 2022 |
| Tinchi Tamba Wetlands | Qld | March 2017 |
| Gregory Rd, Mango Hill | Qld | August 2024 |
| Nathan Rd Wetlands | Qld | Dec 2015 |
| Atkinsons Dam, Lockyer Valley | Qld | Dec 2018 |
| Lake Tinaroo | Qld | Jan 2015 |
| Dunne Rd ephemeral wetland, near Cairns | Qld | Nov 2022 |
| Aquaculture Farm, Killaloe, near Port Douglas | Qld | Nov 2025 |
| Weipa | Qld | Nov 2022 |
| Winton | Qld | Nov 2015 |
References
- Geering, Andrew, Lindsay Agnew, and Sandra Harding, eds. Shorebirds of Australia. Csiro Publishing, 2007.
- eBird. 2021. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance [web application]. eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Available: http://www.ebird.org (Accessed: Date 12/4/2026)
- Rogers A, Fuller RA & Amano T (2023) Australia’s migratory shorebirds: Trends and prospects. Report to the National Environmental Science Program. University of Queensland, Brisbane.
- Driessen, J., Kidd, L. R., Weller, D. R., Purnell, C., Maguire, G., Jaensch, R., and LeClair, S. M. (2025). Australian National Directory of Important Migratory Shorebird Habitat. Report for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. BirdLife Australia, Melbourne.
- https://sproggies63.github.io/birding_apps/
- van Gils, J., P. Wiersma, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Ruff (Calidris pugnax), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ruff.01