Calidris maritima ORDER: CHARADRIIFORMES FAMILY: SCOLOPACIDAE
IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern
© Chris Wood
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.
Song, usually issued in display flights, is a rolling, repeated, throaty series of varied elements. Also makes trills and chattering calls.