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Bird name:

Purple Sandpiper

Calidris maritimaOrder: CHARADRIIFORMES Family: Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)
Codes: Common Name: PUSA Scientific Name: CALMAR ITIS Taxonomic No.: 176646
Purple Sandpiper Breeding Adult Head Illustration

Head

Topo Map: Sandpiper-like Head
  • Bill Shape: Dagger
  • Eye Color: Dark brown.
  • Head Pattern: Striped
  • Crown Color: Pale brown with black streaks.
  • Forehead Color: Gray and brown.
  • Nape Color: Gray
  • Throat Color: Pale gray with heavy dark streaks.
  • Cere color: No Data
Splitbar

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Purple Sandpiper Breeding Adult Body Illustration

Body

Topo Map: Sandpiper-like Body
  • Length Range: 23 cm (9 in)
  • Weight: 77 g (2.7 oz)
  • Size: Size 2. Small (5 - 9 in)
  • Color: White, Brown, Gray
  • Underparts: White with heavy brown and black streaks on breast and sides.
  • Upperparts: Black and gray-brown feathers with white edges.
  • Back Pattern: Striped or streaked, Scaled or Scalloped
  • Belly Pattern: Striped or streaked
  • Breast Pattern: Striped or streaked
Purple Sandpiper Breeding Adult Flight Illustration

Flight

Topo Map: Sandpiper-like Flight
  • Flight Pattern: Flies swiftly with shallow wingbeats low over water.
  • Wingspan Range: 43 cm (17 in)
  • Wing Shape: Pointed-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Pointed Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Striped
  • Upper Tail: Gray-brown, darker in the center.
  • Under Tail: White
  • Leg Color: Yellow
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Family
Species Calidris maritima
Length9 Inches
Wingspan17 Inches

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
Sandpiper-like HeadX
Sandpiper-like BodyX
Sandpiper-like FlightX
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

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.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX