Species: Calidris alba

Sanderling

Species

Birds

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Salish Sea-reliant birds

Terrestrial vertebrates: birds

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Scolopacidae

Genus

Calidris

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102190

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Maçarico-Branco - Playero Blanco - bécasseau sanderling

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Shorebirds

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Charadriiformes - Scolopacidae - Calidris - Often placed in monotypic genus CROCETHIA (AOU 1983).

Ecology and Life History

Migration

false - false - true - Begins migrating northward in March, main flight through U.S. in May, arrives in nesting areas late May-early June. Adults depart breeding areas mid-July to mid-August, juveniles late August-early September (Hayman et al. 1986). Migrates through Costa Rica mid-August through October and mid-March to early May (Stiles and Skutch 1989).

Non-migrant

false

Locally Migrant

false

Food Comments

During the nesting season feeds on adult insects and their larvae. On coastal beaches feeds on tiny crustaceans, small mollusks, and marine worms. Horseshoe crab eggs are an important source of food for north-bound migrants at Delaware Bay (Botton et al. 1994). Forages at edge of water probing wet sand with bill.

Reproduction Comments

Breeding begins mid-June to July (may be delayed by snow). Female usually lays 4 eggs; incubation lasts about 24-31 days. Male sometimes incubates first clutch while female lays a second. Nestlings are precocial and downy. Young can fly 17 days after hatching.

Ecology Comments

Seen singly, or in small (usually) or large flocks. May defend nonbreeding feeding territory, chasing away other birds.

Length

Weight

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-11-26

Global Status Last Changed

1996-11-26

Other Status

LC - Least concern

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - BREEDS: circumpolar; in North America, northern Alaska, and from Prince Patrick, Lougheed, and northern Ellesmere islands south to northern Mackenzie, western Victoria Island, northern Keewatin, northwestern coast of Hudson Bay, and Southampton and northern Baffin islands; northern Palearctic. Some spend breeding season in nonbreeding range. NORTHERN WINTER: southern Alaska, Massachusetts, and Gulf Coast south through Middle America, West Indies, and South America to southern Argentina (by far the largest number on the west coast of South America in Peru and Chile, Morrison and Ross 1989); also Pacific islands, Old World. Delaware Bay is the most important spring stopover in the eastern U.S. (Clark et al. 1993).

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102190