Feet light yellowish-olive, claws black. Adult in winter. The bill, iris, and feet as in summer. Hind part of back and tail barred with dusky as in summer. Quills as in summer, the inner marked with grey in place of brownish-red.
Individuals exhibit great differences in the length of the bills and tarsi.
On the upper mandible internally are three series of minute papillae, which become larger on the palate. While the upper mandible is flat beneath, the lower is deeply concave, and its crura elastic and capable of being separated near the base to the distance of three-fourths of an inch. The epithelium is dense, tough, with numerous longitudinal rugae, and of a reddish colour. The contents of the stomach were very small hard hemispherical seeds and vegetable fibres. The bronchial half rings are about 25.