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.

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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

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

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

Description

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).

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

Sex Differences

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

Sound

Call a thin "jeet."

Conservation Status

Common.

Other Names

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

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.

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.