Sanderling
|
|
| Sanderling Conservation status: Lower risk (lc) | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missing image Sanderling01sm.JPG Sanderling Sanderling (spring adult) | ||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Calidris alba Pallas, 1764 |
The Sanderling, Calidris alba is a small wader. It is a circumpolar Arctic breeder, and is a long-distance migrant, wintering south to South America, Africa and Australia. It is highly gregarious in winter, sometimes forming large flocks on coastal mudflats or sandy beaches.
This bird is similar in size to a Dunlin, but stouter, with a thick bill. It shows a strong white wingbar in flight, and runs along the sandy beaches it prefers with a characteristic "bicycling" action, stopping frequently to pick small food items. It eats small crabs and other small invertebrates. In spring, birds migrating north from South America consume large numbers of horseshoe crab eggs in the Delaware Bay area.
The depicted bird is a spring recent arrival on the High Arctic breeding grounds, where it lays 3-4 eggs on a ground scrape. Later in the summer, the face and throat become brick-red. On the nesting grounds, these birds mainly eat insects and some plant material.
The winter bird is very pale, almost white apart from a dark shoulder patch. This is the source of the specific name, alba, which is the Latin for "white". The juvenile bird is spangled black and white, and shows much more contrast than the adult.
The only confusion with this species occurs if the size is misjudged, when a breeding plumage bird can be mistaken for a stint.
On the map below, the dark shading shows the approximate southern limit of the Sanderling's breeding range
Arcticsanderling.jpg