Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea)

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

Return to Eastern Shorebirds

Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea)

Identification: Length from tip of bill to tip of tail 8 inches. A rare stray on the East Coast of North America from Eurasia.

Summer Plumage: Back brown to rusty brown, mottled with black. Head reddish brown, suffused with gray. Bill long, narrow, curved downward. Neck, breast, and belly suffused with red-brown. Rump white. Back brown, mottled with black. Legs dark, slightly yellow-green.

Winter Plumage: Back gray, mottled with dark gray. Crown gray, side of head white with a thin, dark line through the eye. Bill as in summer plumage. Breast white, streaked with dark gray. Undersides white. Otherwise as in adult.

Similar Species:  The summer plumage bird is distinctive. The Red Knot in summer plumage is slightly similar, but has a short, triangular bill and a lighter, grayer back. The downcurved bill of the winter plumage individual is usually distinctive. However the Curlew Sandpiper in its winter plumage is very difficult to separate from the winter plumage Dunlin. The Dunlin lacks a white rump. However the white rump of the Curlew Sandpiper is seen only in flying birds.

Breeding Range: The Curlew Sandpiper is a Eurasian bird breeding primarily in Siberia. A few birds have been known to breed in Alaska. However the species is a rare migrant (stray?) from Eurasia along the east coast.

Overwintering Range:  The species overwinters primarily in Africa and is a rare stray to North America.

Habitat: The Curlew Sandpiper breeds in the tundra of Siberia. Strays in North America are primarily coastal and found on mudflats.

Food: Aquatic invertebrates.

Behavior: The Curlew Sandpiper, although breeding in northern Asia, seems to stray to many parts of the world outside of its normal haunts. The voice is a soft chirp.

Reproduction:  The clutch consists of brown-spotted yellow-tan eggs. The eggs are laid in a ground depression on the tundra.