Calidris maritima
ORDER: CHARADRIIFORMES
FAMILY: SCOLOPACIDAE
© Jim Wedge / CLO
A stout shorebird, the Purple Sandpiper breeds in the tundra and winters along rocky shores of the Atlantic Coast. Despite its name, it appears mostly slate-gray in winter, with only a faint purplish gloss, and shows no purple at all in breeding plumage.