Sanderling
Calidris alba

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Genus: Calidris

Audio for Species

Call
Song

from Macaulay Library

Species Related Links

Additional Sanderling Pictures

Description

Length: 6.5-7.9 in (16.51-20 cm) Weight: 1.4-3.5 oz (40-100 g) Wingspan: 13.8 in (35 cm)

Adult winter plumage is pale gray on head and upperparts. A faint, partial gray breast band, with white underparts. They have an indistinct white supercilium and dark eyeline. The breeding plumage has a reddish head, back and breast with black spots. They have a white, wide wing stripe.

Habitat, Range, and Feeding

During winter and their migration they prefer sandy beaches, for feeding and fun. They are one of the most widespread wintering shorebirds; enjoying sandy beaches at nearly all temperate and tropical locations. Many non-breeding Sanderlings will stay in the tropical regions during summer, rather than migrating to the Arctic areas.
The Sanderling nests on islands and the coastal tundra of the Arctic. They scrape a shallow nest in the tundra, and line it sparsely with leaves and lichens. The clutch size is 3 to 4 eggs, that are a dull green to olive-brown with thinly spread small brown spots that are mostly at the large end. The eggs are pear-shaped.

The diet consists of aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates; insects, small crustaceans, and bivalve mollusks. They probe the sand and debris on beaches.