Purple Sandpiper

Calidris maritima

Order CHARADRIIFORMES - Family SCOLOPACIDAE - Subfamily Scolopacinae

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A stout shorebird, the Purple Sandpiper breeds in the tundra and winters along rocky shores of the Atlantic Coast. Despite its name, it appears mostly slate-gray in winter, with only a faint purplish gloss, and shows no purple at all in breeding plumage.

Cool Facts

• The Purple Sandpiper has the northernmost winter range of any shorebird.

• At Svalbard, an archipelago north of Scandinavia, the male Purple Sandpiper was found to be primarily responsible for parental care of hatchlings. In other shorebird species, parental care mostly by males is often associated with polyandry (one female with several mates), but the Purple Sandpiper is evidently monogamous (one mate only), with a long-term pair bond.

• Purple Sandpipers breeding in high-arctic Canada may migrate through Greenland and Iceland and winter in Europe.

Description

• Size: 20-22 cm (8-9 in)
• Wingspan: 42-46 cm (17-18 in)
• Weight: 50-105 g (1.77-3.71 ounces)

• Plump, medium-sized shorebird.
• Mostly dark.
• Medium-length bill, with slight droop at end.
• Short, yellow legs.

• Eyes dark brown.
• Bill dark with yellowish base.

Breeding (Alternate) Plumage: White eyestripe. Blackish upperparts with white, chestnut, or buff feather edges. Underparts white with dark spotting on breast and flanks. Legs and base of bill olive-yellow or muted orange.
Nonbreeding (Basic) Plumage: Upperparts slate-gray with purplish sheen visible at close range. Legs and base of bill brighter orange than on breeding adult.

Sex Differences

Sexes similar, female slightly larger and with longer bill.

Immature

Juvenile resembles breeding adult, but with white-edged feathers on the upperparts.

Similar Species

• Winter Dunlin lighter brownish gray, with longer, more slender bill, and dark legs.
• Rock Sandpiper very similar, but the ranges of the two species do not normally overlap. Breeding Rock Sandpiper has dark patch on belly; Purple Sandpiper's belly is white. Nonbreeding Purple Sandpiper is darker than Rock Sandpiper, with brighter bill base and legs.

Sound

Song, usually issued in display flights, is a rolling, repeated, throaty series of varied elements. Also makes trills and chattering calls.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds primarily on islands of arctic Canada. Also in Greenland, Iceland, northern Europe, and northern Russia.

Winter Range

Winters on ice-free coastlines from Quebec to South Carolina. Also on coasts of Greenland and Europe.

Habitat

Breeds along low tundra near shorelines, as well as gravel beaches along rivers. Winters along rocky coastlines and man-made jetties.

Food

During breeding, mostly insects and spiders, plus seeds and berries. In winter, mostly gastropods, insects, and crustaceans.

Behavior

Foraging

Feeds on rocky intertidal areas and break-waters, running among seaweed and rocks and picking prey. Found on rocks in splashing surf. Less commonly feeds along beaches or muddy pools. Also feeds by picking in tundra soils.

Displays

Purple Sandpipers of both sexes raise one wing straight up in response to perceived threats. In its distraction display, commonly called the "Rodent Run" display, the Purple Sandpiper tries to draw predators away from nests by running, conspicuously fluffing feathers, and making mouse-like squeals.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Depression in the ground, lined with leaves and down.

Egg Description

Beige to olive, with variable spotting.

Clutch Size

Usually 4 eggs. Range: 3-4.

Condition at Hatching

Completely covered with dense white down. Capable of walking and pecking at ground within a few hours of hatching.

Conservation Status

Recent analysis of count data in Canada show a statistically significant decline in numbers. In the United States, identifying and protecting winter habitat is a management priority.

Other Names

Becasseau violet (French)
Carellimos oscuro (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Payne, L. X., and E. P. Pierce. 2002. Purple Sandpiper (Calidris maritima). In The Birds of North America, No. 706 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.