Baird's Sandpiper

Calidris bairdiiOrder: CHARADRIIFORMES Family: Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)

Codes: Common Name: BASA Scientific Name: CALBAI ITIS Taxonomic No.: 176655

Breeding Location:

Tundra

Breeding Type:

Monogamous

Breeding Population:

Fairly common to uncommon

Egg Color:

Pink to olive marked with dark brown

Number of Eggs:

Incubation Days:

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

No nest materials.

Migration:

Migratory

General

Baird's Sandpiper: Medium-sized sandpiper with scaled, gray-brown upperparts and white underparts except for dark-spotted, gray-brown breast. Crown, face, and neck are buff with fine, dark brown streaks. Rump is white with dark central stripe extending through the center of gray-brown tail. Sexes are similar. Winter adult is grayer and has fewer streaks. Juvenile is similar to breeding adult but with scaled appearance on back highlighted by white-edged feathers.

Range and Habitat

Baird's Sandpiper: Breeds in the Arctic from eastern Siberia and Alaska to northwestern Greenland. Spends winters in South America, migrating mostly through the interior of North America; uncommon on Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Preferred habitats include freshwater marshes, riverbanks, and lakesides; less frequent on coastal and brackish marshes and adjacent grasslands.

Breeding and Nesting

Baird's Sandpiper: Four dark brown-spotted, pink to olive eggs are laid in a small hollow on dry tundra. Both parents incubate eggs for 22 days. Young fly in 16 to 20 days.

Foraging and Feeding

Baird's Sandpiper: Diet consists primarily of insects, spiders, and small crustaceans; forages by picking food items off relatively dry substrates such as baked mud, sand, or grass.

Vocalization

Baird's Sandpiper: Call is a low, raspy "kreeep."

Similar Species

Baird's Sandpiper: Least Sandpiper is smaller and has yellow-green legs. Semipalmated Sandpiper has grayer breast. White-rumped Sandpiper has white rump.

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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.

Baird's Sandpiper

Baird's Sandpiper: Medium sandpiper with scaled, gray-brown upperparts, white underparts, and dark-spotted, gray-brown breast. Crown, face, and neck are buff with fine, dark brown streaks. Rump is white with dark central stripe extending through the center of gray-brown tail. Black legs and feet.

● Song: "kreeep"

● Foraging & Feeding: Baird's Sandpiper: Diet consists primarily of insects, spiders, and small crustaceans; forages by picking food items off relatively dry substrates such as baked mud, sand, or grass.

● Breeding & nesting: Baird's Sandpiper: Four dark brown-spotted, pink to olive eggs are laid in a small hollow on dry tundra. Both parents incubate eggs for 22 days. Young fly in 16 to 20 days.

● Similar species: Baird's Sandpiper: Least Sandpiper is smaller and has yellow-green legs. Semipalmated Sandpiper has grayer breast. White-rumped Sandpiper has white rump.

Flight Pattern

Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.

● Range & Habitat: Baird's Sandpiper: Breeds in the Arctic from eastern Siberia and Alaska to northwestern Greenland. Spends winters in South America, migrating mostly through the interior of North America; uncommon on Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Preferred habitats include freshwater marshes, riverbanks, and lakesides; less frequent on coastal and brackish marshes and adjacent grasslands.

^BreedingMonogamous

^PopulationFairly common to uncommon

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight1.4 Ounces

Underparts

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

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

Face

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

Rump

The area between the uppertail coverts and the back of the bird.

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