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The sanderling ( Calidris alba) is a small wader bird. The name derives from Old English sand-yrðling, "sand-ploughman". The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific, alba, is Latin for "white".
It is a circumpolar Arctic breeder, and is a long-distance bird migration, wintering south to South America, South Europe, Africa, and Australia. It is highly gregarious in winter, sometimes forming large flocks on coastal mudflats or sandy beaches.
It is somewhat unlike other in appearance, which has led to the suggestion that it should be placed into a monotypic genus Crocethia. A more recent review (Thomas et al., 2004) indicates, however, that the sanderling is a fairly typical "stint" or small sandpiper and should be separated from the large knots with its closest relatives in a distinct genus.
This bird is similar in size to a dunlin, but stouter, with a thick bill. It shows a strong white wingbar in flight, and runs along the sandy beaches it prefers with a characteristic "bicycling" action of its legs, stopping frequently to pick small food items. It eats small and other small . In spring, birds migrating north from South America consume large numbers of horseshoe crab eggs in the Delaware Bay area.
In spring, the birds arrive on the High Arctic breeding grounds (see map), where they lay 3–4 eggs in a ground scrape. On the nesting grounds, these birds mainly eat and some plant material.
The sanderling was described by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas in 1764 and given the binomial name Trynga alba. Includes a transcript of the 1764 text.
The sanderling is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
If its size is misjudged, a sanderling in breeding plumage can be mistaken for some varieties of stint, or a sanderling in winter plumage can be mistaken for a dunlin or red knot. It can be told from other small wading birds, given good views, by its lack of a hind toe. Its behavior is also distinctive.
The breeding habitat of the sanderling is coastal tundra north of July isotherm. The species typically chooses nesting sites on dry stony areas near wet areas, from above sea level to . During the winter and its migration, it is most commonly found on coastal sandy , but also occurs on tide sand flats, mud flats and the shores of lakes and rivers. More infrequently, it may occur on rocky shores.
==Gallery==
Subspecies
The sanderling consists of two subspecies:
Behaviour
Feeding behaviour
Sanderlings feed on invertebrate Predation buried in the sand in the upper intertidal zone. In North America, this diet largely consists of the Isopoda Excirolana linguifrons, Excirolana kincaidii, and the mole crab, Emerita analoga. When the tide is out, these live in burrows some way beneath the surface. When the tide comes in, they move into the upper layers of sand and feed on the plankton and detritus that washes over them with each wave. They then burrow rapidly down again as the water retreats. They leave no marks on the surface, so the sanderlings hunt for them by plunging their beaks into the sand at random, consuming whatever they find. Their bills can penetrate only and as the water swirls around and retreats, the sand is softer; this makes it easier for the birds' beaks to penetrate further. In the spring, when much breeding activity is taking place in the Benthos community, there may be as many as 4000 invertebrates per square metre, but their average size is smaller than later in the year. The birds appear to rush madly around at the edge of the surf, but in reality they are maximising their chances of catching as many prey animals as possible when they are at their most vulnerable near the surface.
Breeding behaviour
At breeding time sanderlings are territorial, with the male aggressively defending its territory. They may either form monogamous pairs or polyandrous (one female and two male) pairings.
Health and diseases
In 2024, a mortality event affecting sanderlings was documented along the Atlantic coast of the United States, notably in Virginia, caused by the clade 2.3.4.4b highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1). Infected individuals showed severe lesions in the Avian brain and pancreas, leading to rapid death. This was one of the few detailed records of avian influenza pathology in Bird migration shorebirds.
Notes
Footnotes
(2025). 9781408104750, Helm. ISBN 9781408104750
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