Pectoral Sandpiper

Pectoral Sandpiper, adult; Jamaica Bay, NY;

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Pectoral Sandpiper, juvenile

Pectoral Sandpiper, juvenile; Queens, NY; August

Pectoral Sandpiper, juvenile?; bathing;

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

A medium-sized, chunky shorebird, the Pectoral Sandpiper is found most commonly on mudflats with short grass or weedy vegetation and seems more at home in the grass than in the water.

Cool Facts

• The breeding male Pectoral Sandpiper has an inflatable throat sac, which expands and contracts rhythmically during display flights. The accompanying vocalization consists of a series of hollow hoots, and is one of the most unusual sounds heard in summer on the arctic tundra.

Description

• Size: 22 cm (9 in)
• Wingspan: 43 cm (17 in)
• Weight: 41-105 g (1.45-3.71 ounces)

Medium-sized sandpiper. Moderately long neck. Moderately long, slightly drooping bill. Moderately long, yellowish or greenish legs. Dark, densely streaked chest showing sharp border with white belly. Dark center of rump and tail. Back reddish brown with two thin white lines extending it length.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike, male slightly larger.

Immature

Juvenile similar to adult, but with more scaly pattern on back and finer streaks on chest.

Similar Species

• Baird's Sandpiper smaller, with less distinct chest band, and scaly back without white stripes.
• Least Sandpiper is similarly marked, but half the size.
• Rare Sharp-tailed Sandpiper similar, but adult has heavy blackish chevrons on breast and flanks and a rufous cap. Juvenile has brighter reddish cap, a bold pale eyestripe, a buffy breast with fewer streaks, and thin black streaking up under the tail.

Sound

Call a harsh "churk." Courtship call a hollow hooting, interspersed with growling and squawking notes.

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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Summer Range

Breeds across Alaska and very northern Canada. Also in northeastern Siberia.

Winter Range

Winters inland in South America. Small numbers also in southeast Asia and the South Pacific.

Habitat

Breeds in wet coastal tundra. Migrates and winters in wet meadows, mudflats, flooded fields, and shores of ponds and pools.

Reproduction

Clutch Size

Condition at Hatching

Active and covered with down.

Conservation Status

Formerly abundant in 19th century, but were much reduced by market hunting. Little information on current population trends, but appears to be relatively stable.

Other Names

Bécasseau a poitrine cendrée (French)
Playero pectoral, Correlimos pectoral (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Holmes, R. T., and F. A. Pitelka. 1998. Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos). In The Birds of North America, No. 348 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.