Mesa Mesa Mesa (Spanish and Portuguese for "table") is the American English term for tableland, an elevated area of land with a flat top and sides that are usually steep cliffs. It takes its name from its characteristic table-top shape. It may also be called a table hill, table-topped hill or table mountain. It is larger than a butte, which it otherwise resembles closely. It is a characteristic landform of arid environments, particularly the Western and Southwestern United States in badlands and mountainous regions ranging from Washington and California to the Dakotas, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, and Texas. Examples are also found
Upland sandpiper Upland sandpiper The upland sandpiper ("Bartramia longicauda") is a large sandpiper, closely related to the curlews. Older names are the upland plover and Bartram's sandpiper. In Louisiana, it is also colloquially known as the papabotte. It is the only member of the genus "Bartramia". The genus name and the old common name Bartram's sandpiper commemorate the American naturalist William Bartram. The species name " longicauda" is from Latin "longus", "long" and "caudus", "tail". The name "Bartram's sandpiper" was made popular by Alexander Wilson, who was taught ornithology and natural history illustration by Bartram. An adult is roughly long with a