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.