Baird's sandpiper

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Baird's sandpiper
Baird's sandpiper (Calidris bairdii) 01.jpg
Baird's sandpiper (Calidris bairdii)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Genus: Calidris
Species:
C. bairdii
Binomial name
Calidris bairdii
(Coues, 1861)
Calidris bairdii map.svg
Range
  Breeding
  Nonbreeding
  Passage
Synonyms

Actodromus bairdii
Erolia bairdii

Baird's sandpiper (Calidris bairdii) is a small shorebird. It is among those Calidris species which were formerly sometimes included in the genus Erolia, which was subsumed into the genus Calidris in 1973. [2] The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The English name and specific bairdii commemorate Spencer Fullerton Baird, 19th-century naturalist and assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. [3]

Contents

Description

Adults have black legs and a short, straight, thin dark bill. They are dark brown on top and mainly white underneath with a black patch on the rump. The head and breast are light brown with dark streaks. In winter plumage, this species is paler brownish grey above. This bird can be difficult to distinguish from other similar tiny shorebirds; these are known collectively as "peeps" or "stints".

One of the best identification features is the long wings, which extend beyond the tail when the bird is on the ground. Only the white-rumped sandpiper also shows this, and that bird can be distinguished by its namesake white rump patch.

Standard Measurements [4] [5] [6]
length 14–17 cm (5.5–6.7 in)
wingspan 36–40 cm (14–16 in)
weight 32–63 g (1.1–2.2 oz)
wing 117.6–125.3 mm (4.63–4.93 in)
tail 50–57 mm (2.0–2.2 in)
culmen 20.5–24.5 mm (0.81–0.96 in)
tarsus 21.3–24.2 mm (0.84–0.95 in)

Ecology

Chicks on the ground, camouflaged Baird's Sandpiper chicks.jpg
Chicks on the ground, camouflaged
Eggs in a nest Calidris bairdii1.jpg
Eggs in a nest

Baird's sandpiper breeds in the northern tundra from far eastern Siberia to western Greenland. [5] They nest on the ground, usually in dry locations with low vegetation.

It is a long-distance migrant, wintering in western and southern South America, from Peru to as far south as Tierra del Fuego. This species is a rare vagrant to western Europe. [5] It breeds on barren high arctic coasts and hills, and on migration and in winter, it regularly uses lake shores and sparse grassland at extreme high altitudes (up to 4,700 m) in the Andes. [5]

Baird's sandpiper might have hybridized with the buff-breasted sandpiper.[ citation needed ]

These birds forage by moving about mudflats, picking up food by sight. They mainly eat insects, also some small crustaceans. [5]

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2018). "Calidris bairdii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018 e.T22693404A129653281. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22693404A129653281.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Ryser, Fred A. (1985). Birds of the Great Basin: A Natural History. Reno, NV, US: University of Nevada Press. p. 193. ISBN   0-87417-080-X.
  3. ↑ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp.  66, 84. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. ↑ Godfrey, W. Earl (1966). The Birds of Canada. Ottawa: National Museum of Canada. p. 154.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Hoyo, Josep del; Elliott, Andrew; Sargatal, Jordi (1992). Handbook of the Birds of the World: Hoatzin to auks. Vol. 3. Barcelona: Lynx edicions. p. 523. ISBN   84-87334-20-2.
  6. ↑ Sibley, David Allen (2000). The Sibley Guide to Birds . New York: Knopf. p.  185. ISBN   0-679-45122-6.
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