Sanderling Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  Sanderlings are small, plump sandpipers with a stout bill about the same length as the head. These and other sandpipers in the genus Calidris are often called “peeps”; Sanderlings are medium-sized members of this group.

  Relative Size

  About the same size as a Dunlin. Smaller than a Red Knot; larger than a Least Sandpiper.

  robin-sized

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 7.1-7.9 in (18-20 cm)
    • Weight: 1.4-3.5 oz (40-100 g)
    • Wingspan: 13.8 in (35 cm)

  © Jonathan Lugo / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  You’ll most often see Sanderlings in nonbreeding plumage, when they are very pale overall: light gray above and white below, with a blackish mark at the shoulder. In spring and summer, Sanderlings are spangled black, white, and rich rufous on the head, neck, and back. At all times, their legs and bills are black. In flight, white wingstripes contrast with dark wings.

• Behavior

  Sanderlings breed on the High Arctic tundra and migrate south in fall to become one of the most common birds along beaches. They gather in loose flocks to probe the sand of wave-washed beaches for marine invertebrates, running back and forth in a perpetual “wave chase.”
• Habitat

  During migration and winter, they forage on beaches but will also use mudflats. Sanderlings nest in the High Arctic on gravel patches and low-growing, wet tundra.