Semipalmated Sandpiper
Calidris pusilla
Small, grayish-brown sandpiper. Typically shows relatively short, blunt-tipped bill, but this varies across the breeding range: western populations are shortest-billed, eastern populations are longest, and females have longer bills than males! Also note blackish legs, although they can appear dull gray or greenish. In breeding plumage, fairly pale grayish brown, sometimes with brighter rusty cap and cheek. Nonbreeding is plain gray above and white below. Juveniles have attractive scaly pattern on upperparts, and variable coloration: usually grayish with some buffy areas, occasionally brighter rufous. Most similar to Western and Least Sandpipers. Western averages slightly larger and longer-billed, with brighter rufous on breeding adults and juveniles; nonbreeding birds paler but extremely similar to Semipalmated. Least Sandpiper is darker and browner. Breeds on high Arctic tundra. Migrates to South America for the winter; very rarely lingers in the U.S. past November, unlike Western Sandpiper. Usually found in flocks, sometimes in very large numbers. Prefers open mudflats, but also found in marshes and beaches.
Identification
It is a small sandpiper, 15–18 cm (5.9-7.1 in) long and weighing around 18-51.5 g (0.6-1.8 oz). Wingspan ranges from 13.8 to 14.6 in (35-37 cm). Adults have black legs and a short, stout, straight dark bill. The body is dark grey-brown on top and white underneath. The head and neck are tinged light grey-brown. This bird can be difficult to distinguish from other similar tiny shorebirds, in particular the western sandpiper; these are known collectively as "peeps" or "stints".
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Calidris pusilla
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Scolopacidae
- Genus
- Calidris
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- NA, PAL : low (locally high) Arctic to subarctic tundra of far ne Palearctic and Nearctic: e Chukotskiy Pen. (ne Siberia), w, n Alaska and n Canada including most of mainland Nunavut, around Hudson and James bays and e to n Labrador, and s Canadian Arctic islands from Banks to Baffin (ne Canada)
- Non-breeding range
- MA, SA, Caribbean : subtropical to tropical coastal Neotropics: from Isthmus of Tehuantepec (sw Mexico) to far n Chile and Galapagos (e Pacific), throughout Caribbean and from n Yucatan Pen. to ne Brazil (w Atlantic)
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Green-backed Kingfisher
Actenoides monachus
An unmistakable, spectacular large forest kingfisher with a big orange bill, a moss-green back, burnt-orange underparts, and a white throat. Head is bright azure-blue in north and central Sulawesi, but very dark blackish-blue in the south. Females show rufous facial markings that are absent in males. Juveniles are duller, with horn-colored bills. Found singly and in pairs in forest understory of lowlands and lower hills. Vocal around dawn, when it repeats drawn-out mournful whistles, “woooo-eEEE,” that get gradually louder. Also gives a distressed dry chatter.
Semicollared Flycatcher
Ficedula semitorquata
Very similar to other black-and-white small flycatchers. Male differs from Collared and Pied Flycatchers in thinly connected black crown and mantle, and white median coverts. Female is identified by the double pale wingbars and less extensive white areas on the wing. Breeds in mountains and hills in mixed or deciduous forest. During migration and on wintering grounds, found in various open wooded areas, from riparian forests to acacia savannas. Song is a high-pitched musical whistle interspersed with short scratches. Call is a short thin “seep” note and short metallic tacks.
Purple Sandpiper
Calidris maritima
Plump, rock-loving shorebird with slightly droopy bill. Most often seen in nonbreeding plumage, which is fairly dark gray with spotted underparts. Namesake purple sheen (mostly on back, scapulars, and tertials) only visible at close distance in good light. Legs and base of bill usually bright orange. Messy-looking breeding plumage is darker and more heavily marked, with limited rusty tones on upperparts. Largely inaccessible breeding range on high Arctic tundra; most often seen in northern Europe, Spitsbergen, and Iceland. Winters at slightly lower latitudes, regularly south to the mid-Atlantic region in North America and the Iberian Peninsula in Europe; found in flocks on rocky coastlines and jetties pounded by heavy surf.
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