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Sanderling

Calidris albaOrder: CHARADRIIFORMESFamily: Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)

Sanderling Portrait
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General

Sanderling: Medium-sized sandpiper with dark-spotted, rufous upperparts and breast and white underparts. Wings have conspicuous white stripes visible in flight. Bill, legs, and feet are black. Sexes are similar. Winter adult has pale gray upperparts and head, and white underparts. Juvenile has dark gray- and-white mottled upperparts.

Range and Habitat

Sanderling: Breeds in high Arctic tundra from Alaska eastward to Baffin Island. Spends winters along coasts from British Columbia and Massachusetts southward to southern South America. Preferred habitats include ocean beaches, sandbars, mudflats, and lake and river shorelines.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"kip"

Interesting Facts

  • The Sanderling was first described in 1764 by Peter Simon Pallas, a German naturalist.
  • Among shorebirds, only the Ruddy Turnstone and the Whimbrel rival its worldwide distribution.
  • It is predominantly monogamous, but occasionally the female lays eggs for several different males in quick succession.
  • A group of sanderlings are collectively known as a "grain" of sanderlings.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Sanderling
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
Species Calidris alba
Length8 Inches
Wingspan15 Inches

Sanderling

Sanderling: Medium-sized sandpiper with dark-spotted, rufous upperparts, breast and white underparts. Wings have conspicuous white stripes visible in flight. Bill, legs, and feet are black. Feeds on crustaceans, mollusks, isopods, worms, plants and insects. Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.

● Song: "kip"

● Foraging & Feeding: Sanderling: In spring, diet includes insects, spiders, and vegetation; probes for marine invertebrates within ½ inch of mud surface.

● Breeding & nesting: Sanderling: Three to four black and brown-spotted, olive green or brown eggs are laid in a ground hollow lined with grass and lichens. Incubation ranges from 24 to 31 days and is carried out by the male.

● Similar species: Sanderling: Red Knot and rare Curlew Sandpiper are larger and have more rufous on breasts. Winter Sanderling has more distinct wing stripe.

Flight Pattern

Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Sanderling Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Sanderling: Breeds in high Arctic tundra from Alaska eastward to Baffin Island. Spends winters along coasts from British Columbia and Massachusetts southward to southern South America. Preferred habitats include ocean beaches, sandbars, mudflats, and lake and river shorelines.
BreedingMonogamous, Colonial, Polyandrous
Population
MigrationMigratory
Weight4.2 Ounces