Sanderling

About the Sanderling

The sanderling (Calidris alba) is a small wading bird. It is a circumpolar Arctic breeder, being among the most extreme northern breeding birds in the world, nesting only on the coldest tundra, north of the 5°C July isotherm; in Europe, its southernmost breeding locality is Svalbard, where only a handful (5–15) pairs breed. It is a long-distance migrant, wintering south to South America, western and southern Europe, Africa, and Australia. It is highly gregarious in winter, sometimes forming large flocks on coastal mudflats or sandy beaches. It is somewhat unlike other small sandpipers in appearance, in particular in lacking a hind toe, which has led to the suggestion that it should be placed into a monotypic genus Crocethia.

Source: Wikipedia

Classification

Scientific name

Calidris alba

Family

Sandpipers and Allies

Order

Charadriiformes

Similar species

Other members of the sandpipers and allies family recorded in North America — a useful place to start if you are not certain of your identification.

• American Woodcock Scolopax minor
• Baird's Sandpiper Calidris bairdii
• Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica
• Black Turnstone Arenaria melanocephala
• Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa
• Bristle-thighed Curlew Numenius tahitiensis
• Broad-billed Sandpiper Calidris falcinellus
• Buff-breasted Sandpiper Calidris subruficollis
• Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia
• Common Redshank Tringa totanus
• Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
• Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago