Australia
SpeciesField NotesLog inDownload

Field notes

Stay in the loop

Get updates, new features, and Australian birding news.

By subscribing, I agree to receive BirdUp Australia updates, new features, and Australian birding news.

Australia
Download for iOSSpeciesField NotesRSSNewsletterPrivacyTerms

BirdUp Australia © 2026. Made in Australia for Australian birders.

  1. Species
  2. ›
  3. Scolopacidae
  4. ›
  5. Calidris
  6. ›
  7. Baird's Sandpiper

BirdUp · Species

Baird's Sandpiper

Calidris bairdii(Coues, 1861)

Conservation status: Least ConcernOrigin: Vagrant
Order
CHARADRIIFORMES
Family
Scolopacidae
Genus
Calidris

At a glance

The Baird's Sandpiper, listed as Least Concern. It can be seen year-round.

Conservation status
Least Concern
Origin
Vagrant
Best seen
Year-round
Commonness
Common
  • Identification
  • Where
  • When

01 · Identification

How to tell it apart

Baird's sandpiper is a small shorebird. It is among those Calidris species which were formerly sometimes included in the genus Erolia, which was subsumed into the genus Calidris in 1973. The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The English name and specific bairdii commemorate Spencer Fullerton Baird, 19th-century naturalist and assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

Description · wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Field specs

Wingspan
36 cm

Measurements · avonet · CC BY 4.0

03 · When

When to look

When can you see a Baird's Sandpiper?

The Baird's Sandpiper is present across its Australian range year-round, so it can be seen in any month.

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

The BirdUp app

Log your next Baird's Sandpiper in the field

A pocket field journal for 850+ Australian birds. Offline-first, smart ID, and a lifelist that travels with you.

Get the appRead field notes

02 · Where

Where to find it

Where does the Baird's Sandpiper live in Australia?

The Baird's Sandpiper is found in Australia, recorded across 6 of Australia’s bioregions.

Breeding range
NA, PAL : high Arctic (locally to subarctic) dry tundra: Wrangel I. (north of north-east Siberia and east Chukotskiy Pen. (far north-east Siberia), north and central Alaska, north Canada including Arctic islands from Banks to Ellesmere and Baffin is. and north-west Greenland
Non-breeding range
West and south SA : inland including montane and coastal from south Peru through Chile and central and south Argentina