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Sanderling Calidris alba Playero Arenero
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Photo: G. Beaton
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Sanderling Calidris alba Playero Arenero
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Photo: G. Beaton
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IDENTIFICATION: A small shorebird, sandy gray above, and white below. The white of the breast extends in a crescent just in front of the folded wing. The Sanderling is browner above in breeding plumage. Length: 18-20 cm.; weight: 40-100 g. VOICE: A high-pitched, sharp, pipping noise as Sanderlings in a flock jockey for the best feeding territories. Audio (M. Oberle). HABITS: Small flocks of Sanderlings typically feed by following retreating waves and plucking small molluscs and crustaceans at or just below the sandÆs surface. On the breeding grounds in North America both sexes build a scrape nest in dry or stony tundra. Both parents incubate the four eggs for 24-31 days. The young leave the nest soon after hatching and are brooded and led to food by both parents. The chicks fledge about 17 days after hatching. Individual Sanderlings will often return to the same specific section of beach each winter. STATUS AND CONSERVATION: An uncommon winter resident in Puerto Rico, but it is one of the commonest shorebirds in the world. RANGE: Breeds in the high Arctic of North America, Greenland and Siberia. Winters on ocean beaches throughout much of the world. A typical location is on less disturbed areas of sandy beaches such as the east end of Luquillo. TAXONOMY: CHARADRIIFORMES; SCOLOPACIDAE; Scolopacinae |
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Photo: G. Beaton
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Photo: G. Beaton
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Photo: R. Rodrφguez Mojica
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Photo: G. Beaton
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References Bent, A.C. 1927. Life histories of North American shore birds, part 1. Smithsonian Instit. U.S. National Museum Bull. 142. (Reprinted by Dover Press, NY, 1962). Borowik, O. A. and D. A. McLennan. 1999. Phylogenetic patterns of parental care in calidridine sandpipers. Auk 116(4):1107-1117. Collazo, J.A., B.A. Harrington, J. Grear, and J.A. Colón. 1995. Abundance and distribution of shorebirds at the Cabo Rojo salt flats, Puerto Rico. J. Field Ornithol. 66:424-438. del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, eds. 1996. Handbook of Birds of the World, Vol. 3. Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Ehrlich, P.R., D.S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The birderÆs handbook: a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon and Schuster/ Fireside, NY. Hayman, P., J. Marchant, and T. Prater. 1986. Shorebirds: an identification guide. Houghton Mifflin, Boston. MacWhirter, B., P. Austin-Smith, Jr., and D. Kroodsma. 2002. Sanderling (Calidis alba). In The Birds of North America, No. 653 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. Myers, J. P. 1988. The Sanderling. in Audubon Wildlife Report, 1988/19896 (Chandler, W. J., ed.) p.651-668. National Audubon Soc., NY. Paulson, D. 1993. Shorebirds of the Pacific Northwest. Univ Washington, Seattle. Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton. Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR. Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton. Wunderle, J.M., Jr., R.B. Waide, and J. Fernández. 1989. Seasonal abundance of shorebirds in the Jobos estuary in southern Puerto Rico. J. Field Ornithol. 60:329-339. Next related species in taxonomic order Previous related species in taxonomic order |