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Terek Sandpiper

Xenus cinereusOrder: CHARADRIIFORMESFamily: Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)

Terek Sandpiper Portrait
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General

Terek Sandpiper: Medium-sized sandpiper with lightly spotted gray upperparts, white underparts, and gray wash on upper breast. Eyestripes are dark. Bill is long, orange with black tip, and distinctly curved upward. Legs are relatively short and bright orange. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Terek Sandpiper: Eurasian species; rare migrant on outer Aleutians; accidental in fall to coastal British Columbia, California, and Massachusetts. Breeds along rivers and lakeshores in wooded areas and marshes. Mostly coastal outside breeding season, usually found in estuaries, mudflats, and tidal creeks.

Voice Text

"twit-witt-witt", "du-du-du"

Interesting Facts

 The Terek Sandpiper is the only member of the genus Xenus.

 It feeds in a distinctive and very active way, chasing insects and other mobile prey, and sometimes then running to the water's edge to wash its catch.

 A group of sandpipers has many collective nouns, including a "bind", "contradiction", "fling", "hill", and "time-step" of sandpipers.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Terek Sandpiper
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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 Sandpiper (Scolopacidae)_blue
Species Xenus cinereus
Length9 - 11 Inches
Wingspan18.5 Inches

Terek Sandpiper

Terek Sandpiper: Medium-sized sandpiper with lightly spotted gray upperparts, white underparts, and gray wash on upper breast. Eyestripes are dark. Bill is long, black with orange at the base and curved upward. Legs are relatively short and bright orange. Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.

● Song: "twit-witt-witt", "du-du-du"

● Foraging & Feeding: Terek Sandpiper: Feeds on insects, crustaceans, and mollusks. Forages while dashing and darting over mudflats.

● Breeding & nesting: Terek Sandpiper: Four light gray eggs with brown to black speckles are laid in a shallow ground nest lined with vegetation, usually built in the middle of grayed driftwood on riverbanks. Incubation ranges from 21 to 22 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Terek Sandpiper: Common Sandpiper has shorter body and longer legs.

Flight Pattern

Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Terek Sandpiper Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Terek Sandpiper: Eurasian species; rare migrant on outer Aleutians; accidental in fall to coastal British Columbia, California, and Massachusetts. Breeds along rivers and lakeshores in wooded areas and marshes. Mostly coastal outside breeding season, usually found in estuaries, mudflats, and tidal creeks.
BreedingMonogamous
PopulationRare
MigrationMigratory
Weight2.5 Ounces