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8

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) Alternate name(s): "Pouter Shorebird" Size: 18-24 cm; wing span 42-49 cm Weight: 50-115 g

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Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Pectoral Sandpipers are small waders. Their plumage is highly cryptic. In Australia they are usually seen only in eclipse or juvenile plumage. Non-breeding adults have a creamy throat patch, a greyish-brown chest with dark-brown striation and a creamy to white belly, vent and undertail coverts. The cap is whitish with very dark brown striation, the eye stripes are also dark-brown, while the eyebrows are creamy. The cheeks and ear coverts are greyish-brown with fine dark-brown striation. The back is dark grey-brown, with lighter grey-brown edge lining on all feathers. In-flight they have only a partial, very indistinct wing bar. The eyes have dark irises. The dark-grey bill is slightly downcurved and slightly longer than the size of the head and has an olive base. The legs and feet are yellow. In flight the feet protrude slightly beyond the tail and their body build is visibly more massive than that of other, similar species. Juveniles have a more rufous-coloured base to their front and more rufous edges on the back than adults. Twitcher's tip Compared with Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, they have a white crown with dark-grey streaks, not chestnut with darker-brown streaking. Sharp-tailed Sandpipers have a straight bill, while Pectoral Sandpipers have a slightly down-curved bill. Compared with Wood Sandpipers, Pectoral Sandpipers are streaked, not spotted. Various species of stints, which can also have brownish chests, are visibly smaller. The correct identification of waders ("shorebirds"), e.g. of the Calidris, Tringa, Actitis and related families or of the Charadrius, Pluvialis and related genera in the field can be quite tricky. We have therefore made an attempt to give some advice HERE.

Taxonomy, classification See Pectoral Sandpiper at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Pectoral Sandpiper is available HERE . Pectoral Sandpipers are a global species. They are migratory, breeding in North America, Asia and Europe, but spending the northern winters in South America, Oceania, Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, Pectoral Sandpipers can occasionally be found in along the coastlines, but also inland, almost anywhere except parts of the Great Dividing Range and the Great Sandy Deserts in the border region of WA, SA and the NT. Pectoral Sandpipers have a preference for lightly vegetated areas around saline, brackish and fresh water, in particular swamps and marshes.

Sightings Click here for sighting information B. Hensen reports spotting a Pectoral Sandpiper on Norfolk Island in December 2008. Another Pectoral Sandpiper was seen by B. Hensen at Moseley Swamp, Lord Howe Island, in November 2014. M. Eaton reports finding a Pectoral Sandpiper at Gold Scrub Lane, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, in December 2019. We found a single Pectoral Sandpiper in an ephemeral wetland ca. 30 km S of Mungindi, NSW, in February 2023.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

NON-BREEDING

Frontal view of a Pectoral Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Gold Scrub Lane, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, December 2019]

Near-lateral view of a Pectoral Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Gold Scrub Lane, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, December 2019]

Near-lateral view of a Pectoral Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Moseley Swamp, Lord Howe Island, November 2014]

Near-lateral view of a Pectoral Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Norfolk Island, December 2008]

Lateral view of a Pectoral Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage
[Ca. 30 km S of Mungindi, NSW, February 2023]

Lateral view of a Pectoral Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Gold Scrub Lane, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, December 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a Pectoral Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Gold Scrub Lane, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, December 2019]

Cox's Sandpiper - Calidris melanotos x ferruginea

Pectoral Sandpipers and Curlew Sandpipers can hybridize. The hybrids are called "Cox's Sandpiper".

M. Eaton reports finding a Cox's Sandpiper at the Kianawah Road Wetland, Wynnum, QLD, in March 2019.

Identification of Cox's Sandpiper is made based on the bill, the streaked front and the white undertail coverts. The bill is very similar to a Curlew Sandpiper's but usually shorter, possibly also less curved. The front down to the chest is streaked like a Pectoral Sandpiper, with a sharp cut-off at the chest. The all-white undertail coverts distinguish Cox's Sandpiper from the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper.

NON-BREEDING

Near-lateral view of a Cox's Sandpiper in transitional plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kianawah Road Wetland, Wynnum, QLD, March 2019]

Lateral view of a Cox's Sandpiper in transitional plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kianawah Road Wetland, Wynnum, QLD, March 2019]

Lateral view of a Cox's Sandpiper in transitional plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kianawah Road Wetland, Wynnum, QLD, March 2019]

Frontal view of a Cox's Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage, right, with a non-breeding Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kianawah Road Wetland, Wynnum, QLD, March 2019]

Near-frontal view of Cox's Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kianawah Road Wetland, Wynnum, QLD, March 2019]

Near-lateral view of Cox's Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kianawah Road Wetland, Wynnum, QLD, March 2019]

Lateral view of a Cox's Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kianawah Road Wetland, Wynnum, QLD, March 2019]

Lateral view of a Cox's Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kianawah Road Wetland, Wynnum, QLD, March 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a Cox's Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage, right, with a non-breeding Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kianawah Road Wetland, Wynnum, QLD, March 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a Cox's Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage, right, with a non-breeding Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kianawah Road Wetland, Wynnum, QLD, March 2019]

Dorsal/ventral view of Cox's Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kianawah Road Wetland, Wynnum, QLD, March 2019]

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Sat, 11 February 2023, 0:10 +00:00