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Pectoral Sandpiper
(Calidris melanotos)
: "Pouter Shorebird"
Size: 18-24 cm; wing span 42-49 cm
Weight: 50-115 g
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Similar species |
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Physical description |
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 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.
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Twitcher's tip |
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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 downcurved bill.
Compared with Wood
Sandpipers, Pectoral Sandpipers are streaked, but 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.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Pectoral
Sandpiper at Wikipedia  .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed based
on sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
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The global distribution of the Pectoral Sandpiper is available
HERE
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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.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
B. Hensen reports spotting a Pectoral Sandpiper on Norfolk Island
in December 2008 and another on Lord Howe Island in November 2014.
All sighting and photographic information presented on this page
has kindly been contributed by B. Hensen.
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Photos |
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ADULT |
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NON-BREEDING |
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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]
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.
Breeding
Nest
Eggs
Behaviour
Food
Call/s
