Sanderling (Calidris alba)

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A Field Guide to Eastern Birds. by Roger Tory Peterson.

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Summer Plumage

Winter Plumage

Winter Plumage

Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of John Cassady

Sanderling (Calidris alba)

Identification: Length from tip of bill to tip of tail 8 inches.

Summer Plumage: Back, sides, and head orange-brown, mottled with black. Side of head orange brown, without a white band over the eye. Bill relatively short and straight. Throat, breast, and belly white. Wing with a broad, white band along the rear margin (seen mostly in flight). Legs gray.

Winter Plumage: Similar in size and build to the summer plumage. However overall coloration gray. Back with intertwined black and light gray triangles. Crown dark gray and side of head white. Side with a little gray-brown, but underside almost all pure white. Rear margin of wing with a wide, white band (see mostly in flight).

Similar Species:  The summer plumage of the Sanderling is easily identified by the rusty-brown coloration of the back and head, and the absence of a light band across the top of the eye. The winter plumage is just one more of a lot of similar gray sandpiper-type species. The winter Sanderling is slightly larger than most species of sandpipers (mostly under 8 inches in length). The undersides of the winter Sanderling are almost pure white with little or no gray-brown markings on the sides, neck, and breast, for example in the Least Sandpiper.

Breeding Range (see map below): The Sanderling breeds on the far northern shores and islands of Canada. The species is also found in northern Europe and Asia.

Overwintering Range:  This species overwinters along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts and southward into the tropical New World.

Habitat: The Sanderling breeds on the far northern tundra. Overwintering individuals are found on beaches, mudflats, and the shores of lakes and rivers.

Food: Aquatic invertebrates.

Behavior: The Sanderling uses its narrow, sharp bill to probe mud and sand for invertebrates such as small crustaceans and mollusks. The voice is a sharp call variously described as treep or plick.

Reproduction:  The clutch consists of 4 brown spotted pink-tan eggs. The eggs are laid in a depression lined with moss, lichen, or grass.