Western Sandpiper

Adult Western Sandpipers in flight, Salton Sea, CA, 1 August 2004. Notice the active molting primaries, with the newer grayer inner primaries replacing the older brownish out primaries.

About the photographs

About the map

Play sound from this species

Western Sandpiper, molting adult; March

Western Sandpiper with ploychaete worm prey, occasional food of this species during migration.

Western Sandpiper, juvenile; Jamaica Bay WR, Queens, NY; late September

Menu

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

Although it has a rather restricted breeding range in western Alaska, the Western Sandpiper is one of the most abundant shorebirds in North America.

Cool Facts

• In migration, the Western Sandpiper stages in huge, spectacular flocks, particularly along the Pacific coast from San Francisco Bay to the Copper River Delta in Alaska. Estimates suggest that as many as 6,500,000 individuals pass through the Copper River Delta during just a few weeks each spring.

Description

• Size: 14-17 cm (6-7 in)
• Wingspan: 26-37 cm (10-15 in)
• Weight: 22-35 g (0.78-1.24 ounces)

Small sandpiper. Short neck. Moderately long bill, with slight droop. Moderately long legs. Black center of rump and tail. Legs black. Back gray-brown with some reddish. Chest usually only lightly marked. In breeding plumage has chestnut on back, crown, and back of face. Short webbing between toes (hard to see).

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike, female slightly larger and with longer bill.

Immature

Juvenile similar to adult, but with more scaly pattern on back.

Similar Species

• Semipalmated Sandpiper very similar, but usually has shorter, less drooping bill.
• Least Sandpiper has a more reddish back, more distinct markings on the chest, and yellow legs.

Sound

Call a thin "jeet."

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

About the map

Summer Range

Breeds in western Alaska. Also in eastern Siberia.

Winter Range

Winters along Pacific Coast from California to Peru, and along Atlantic Coast from southern New Jersey southward to northern South America.

Habitat

Breeds in coastal sedge-dwarf tundra. Migrates and winters along mudflats, beaches, shores or lakes and ponds, and flooded fields.

Reproduction

Clutch Size

Condition at Hatching

Active and covered with down.

Conservation Status

Common.

Other Names

Bécasseau d?Alaska (French)
Playero, Chorlo, Chichicuilote occidental (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Wilson, W. H. 1994. Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri). In The Birds of North America, No. 90 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists? Union.