Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)

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

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Winter Plumage

Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of John Cassady

Summer Plumage

Color Photographs: © by and courtesy of Stuart Healy Western U.S. Bird Guide

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Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)

Identification: Length from tip of bill to tip of tail 5.5 to 6.75 inches.

Summer Plumage: Back and wings gray, mottled with black. Crown gray and side of head light dirty white with a light band over the eye and a vague, darker line through the eye. Bill black, short, slightly curved downward at the apex. Underside mostly white, but lightly spotted with gray on the sides. Legs black.

Winter Plumage: Similar to the summer plumage but browner.

Similar Species:  The Semipalmated Sandpiper is easily mistaken for a number of similar sandpiper species. Overall this species is grayer than most of these species. The Least Sandpiper has yellow legs, and has a thinner bill. Baird's Sandpiper is a slightly larger species. The sides and the breast are tinged with brown with dark streaks. The White-rumped Sandpiper, as the name implies, has a white rump. The tail feathers appear sharp and pointed. The White-rumped Sandpiper is a larger species than the Semipalmated Sandpiper. The Western Sandpiper can be very difficult to separate from the Semipalmated Sandpiper. The summer plumage of the Western Sandpiper usually has a rusty brown crown and patches on the wing. The bill of the Western Sandpiper is generally long and more down-turned at the tip.

Breeding Range (see map below): The Semipalmated Sandpiper breeds throughout the tundra regions of northern Canada and Alaska.

Overwintering Range:  This species overwinters in South America.

Habitat:  The Semipalmated Sandpiper breeds on tundra. Migrating individuals are found on ocean beaches, mud flats, salt marshes, and along the shores of lakes and rivers.

Food: Aquatic invertebrates.

Behavior:  Like most sandpipers, these are the small shorebirds that run back and forth in front of the waves at the beach. The Semipalmated is probably the most common of the sandpipers and sometimes are seen in great numbers during migration. The voice is a short krip.

Reproduction:  The clutch consists of 4 brown-blotched tan eggs. The eggs are laid in a ground depression lined with grass and moss.