Purple Sandpiper

Calidris maritimaOrder: CHARADRIIFORMES Family: Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)

Codes: Common Name: PUSA Scientific Name: CALMAR ITIS Taxonomic No.: 176646

Breeding Location:

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Egg Color:

Olive buff blotched with brown or black

Number of Eggs:

3 - 4

Incubation Days:

21 - 22

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Leaves, grass.

Migration:

Migratory

General

Purple Sandpiper: Medium-sized sandpiper built for life on coastal rocks amid crashing surf. Upperparts are scaled gray-brown, crown is dark, and white underparts are streaked. Bill is dark with a yellow base and slightly decurved. Wings have large white stripes visible in flight; tail has dark central stripe above and is white below. Sexes are similar. Winter adult is duller, grayer and has plain gray head with distinct white eye-ring. Juvenile resembles winter adult but has a more distinct scaled pattern and paler head.

Range and Habitat

Purple Sandpiper: Breeds on rocky tundra in far northern Canada, winters on rocky shorelines along the entire Atlantic Coast.

Breeding and Nesting

Purple Sandpiper: Lays three to four olive buff eggs blotched with brown or black in a small hollow in the ground. Male makes up to 5 nest scrapes, female finishes one and may line it with bits of vegetation. Incubation takes about 21 to 22 days and is carried out by both sexes. Young fly at 21 days.

Foraging and Feeding

Purple Sandpiper: Picks food from rocks among crashing waves. Feeds mainly on crustaceans, insects, and small mollusks.

Vocalization

Purple Sandpiper: Usual call is loud "wit."

Similar Species

Purple Sandpiper: Essentially identical to Rock Sandpiper and not always separable, though range never overlaps.

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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.

Purple Sandpiper

Purple Sandpiper: Medium sandpiper, upperparts are scaled gray-brown, crown is dark, and white underparts are streaked. Bill is dark with a yellow base and slightly decurved. Wings have large white stripes visible in flight; tail has dark central stripe above and is white below.

● Song: "wit"

● Foraging & Feeding: Purple Sandpiper: Picks food from rocks among crashing waves. Feeds mainly on crustaceans, insects, and small mollusks.

● Breeding & nesting: Purple Sandpiper: Lays three to four olive buff eggs blotched with brown or black in a small hollow in the ground. Male makes up to 5 nest scrapes, female finishes one and may line it with bits of vegetation. Incubation takes about 21 to 22 days and is carried out by both sexes. Young fly at 21 days.

● Similar species: Purple Sandpiper: Essentially identical to Rock Sandpiper and not always separable, though range never overlaps.

Flight Pattern

Flies swiftly with shallow wingbeats low over water.

Purple Sandpiper Breeding Adult Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Purple Sandpiper: Breeds on rocky tundra in far northern Canada, winters on rocky shorelines along the entire Atlantic Coast.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^Population

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight2.7 Ounces

Underparts

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

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

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