Western Sandpiper

Western Sandpiper at Bradford Beach, Milwaukee, WI.  Photographs taken September 11, 2013.

Western Sandpiper

Binomial name: Calidris mauri

Category: Sandpipers, Phalaropes, and Allies

Description: Brown feathers on back with white underparts.  Dark legs and bill.

Size: 5.5” – 6.7” long, 10.2” – 14.6” wingspan

Weight: 0.8 oz. – 1.2 oz.

Habitat: Coastal tundras, shorelines, and mudflats

Diet: Small insects such as flies and beetles as well as spiders, mollusks, and small crustaceans

Nesting: The male builds several nests out of grasses, leaves, and lichens pressed into a mud flat or shoreline.  He will then sing to attract a mate, and she will choose the nest.  Both parents will incubate the eggs.  The typical clutch size is 3-5 eggs.  The female may stay and help care for the chicks, or she may leave before the eggs hatch and the male will be the sole caretaker.

Notes: Western Sandpipers breed in Siberia and Alaska, although migration will take them down the West Coast to California.  Very rarely are they seen as far east as the Midwest.