Bird name:

Western Sandpiper

Calidris mauri

Order

CHARADRIIFORMES

Family

Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)

Code 4

WESA

Code 6

CALMAU

ITIS

176668

Breeding Location:

Seashore, rocky or sandy, Bushes, shrubs, and thickets, Grasslands

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Colonial

Breeding Population:

Common to abundant

Egg Color:

Buff marked with red brown spots

Number of Eggs:

3 - 5

Incubation Days:

18 - 21

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Lined with leaves, grass, and lichens.

Migration:

Migratory

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General

Western Sandpiper: Small sandpiper with chestnut-brown, scaled upperparts and white underparts dotted with rows of dark chevrons. Head is streaked with brown wash on face. Bill is dark and slightly curved down at tip. Thin white stripes are visible on dark wings in flight. Legs and feet are black with partial webbing between toes. Sexes are similar. Winter adult has scaled, pale gray upperparts and white underparts.

Range and Habitat

Western Sandpiper: Breeds in northern and western Alaska. Spends winters mainly along the coast from California and Virginia southward to South America. Preferred habitats include shores, mudflats, grassy pools, and wet meadows.

Breeding and Nesting

Western Sandpiper: Three to five red brown-spotted, buff eggs are laid in a grass-lined depression on either wet or dry tundra. Incubation ranges from 18 to 21 days and is carried out by both parents.

Foraging and Feeding

Western Sandpiper: Diet consists of small crustaceans, minnows, earthworms, and aquatic insects. Probes mudflats and shallows for prey.

Vocalization

Western Sandpiper: Call is a soft "cheep" or "kreep."

Similar Species

Western Sandpiper: Sanderling is larger with bolder wing stripes. White-rumped and Baird's sandpipers are larger and appear especially longer-winged. Least Sandpiper is browner, has yellow legs (unless stained by mud), and slightly decurved bill. Semipalmated Sandpiper (in winter and juvenile plumages) has rufous in upperparts and wings.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Face

The front part of the head consisting of the bill, eyes, cheeks and chin.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America