Sanderling
Photo · (c) patrickc, some rights reserved (CC BY)

BirdUp · Species

Sanderling

Calidris alba(Pallas, 1764)

Native
Order
CHARADRIIFORMES
Commonness
Very common
Best seen
Year-round

01 · Identification

How to tell it apart

The sanderling is a small wading bird. The name derives from Old English sand-yrðling, "sand-ploughman". The genus name is from Ancient Greek: καλίδρις : kalídris or σκαλίδρις : skalídris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The species name, alba, is Latin for "white".

Description · wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

02 · Where

Where to find it

Breeding range
NA, PAL : high Arctic tundra wetlands of Holarctic: north-west and south-east Greenland, Svalbard (north of Norway), north Taymyr Pen. and Severnaya Zemlya (to north), Lena Delta and New Siberian Is. (north-central Siberia), Alaskan North Slope (rare), Canadian Arctic islands from Banks to Ellesmere and south to Southampton
Non-breeding range
Worldwide : sandy coastal beaches from temperate to tropical zone: British Isles and Macaronesia (north-west of north Africa) through Africa, Malagasy region, Middle East, south and south-east Asia through Indonesian Arch. to Australia, Melanesia, Philippines and south and central Japan (but rare New Guinea and New Zealand); south-west and south-east Canada and Caribbean south to Tierra del Fuego and including remote islands through east Polynesia

03 · When

When to look

Months this species is recorded across its Australian range.

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

05 · Behaviour

Habits and haunts

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