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8

Sanderling (Calidris alba) Size: 16-22 cm; wing span 40-45 cm Weight: 40-100 g

Australia: Family Group 8 Family Group 8 Table Red-backed Button-quail Chestnut-backed Button-quail Little Button-quail Red-chested Button-quail Painted Button-quail Black-breasted Button-quail Ruddy Turnstone Latham's Snipe Swinhoe's Snipe Painted Snipe Asian Dowitcher Bar-tailed Godwit Black-tailed Godwit Whimbrel Little Curlew Eastern Curlew Eurasian Curlew Pectoral Sandpiper Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Curlew Sandpiper Ruff Red Knot Great Knot Wandering Tattler Grey-tailed Tattler Wood Sandpiper Terek Sandpiper Common Sandpiper Green Sandpiper Buff-breasted Sandpiper Common Greenshank Marsh Sandpiper Red-necked Stint Long-toed Stint Temminck's Stint Sanderling Broad-billed Sandpiper Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

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

Physical description Click here for a physical description Sanderlings are small waders. Their plumage is cryptic. When seen in Australia, they are usually (but not always) in eclipse plumage. During the non-breeding season they have a white front, except for some grey wash on the shoulders. Except for the white frons and inconspicuous white eyebrows, the head is light-grey. The back is grey with a brownish tinge, with dark-grey central lines and light-grey edge lining on the wing feathers. In-flight they show a conspicuous, broad white wing bar and a longitudinal black bar along the centre of the uppertail. During the breeding season, some birds develop a crisper white front and a darker back, with more prominent scalloping on the wings, while others develop a rich chestnut front (down to the chest) and head that are scalloped light-grey. The back turns chestnut, with dark-grey patches and light-grey edge lining on the wing feathers. The eyes have dark irises. The black bill is straight and about as long as the size of the head. The legs and feet are black. The legs are short, giving the species a "dumpy" appearance. In flight the feet do not protrude beyond the tail. Juveniles roughly resemble non-breeding adults, but they have a crisper scaly pattern on their back. Twitcher's tip Compared with (the smaller) Red-necked Stint, Sanderlings in non-breeding plumage are discernible by the LACK of a fourth, small hind toe. Note that Sanderlings have a very variable breeding plumage. Some birds show a rich chestnut front and head, while others remain rather colourless, with some showing what looks like non-breeding plumage with just a bit more contrast between white and grey parts. In their non-breeding plumage they are the palest of all calidrids. 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 Sanderling 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 Sanderling is available HERE . Sanderlings are a strongly migratory species. They breed in suitable habitats along the northern coastline of all continents in the northern hemisphere and on islands inside the Arctic circle (northward of 70 degrees latitude). Outside the breeding season they migrate to their winter quarters. Their circumpolar distribution during the breeding season makes it possible for them to reach the coastlines of most continents/seas (except Antarctica), including Europe, the Americas, Arabia, Asia, Africa and even Australia. Sanderlings are non-breeding migrants to Australia from the North. Arriving anywhere between the Pilbara in WA and the tropical East coast of QLD, they populate the entire Australian seaboard, including offshore islands and the coastline of Tasmania. There are only a small number of confirmed sightings in the Australian interior. Outside their breeding season Sanderlings have a preference for sandy beaches.

Sightings Click here for sighting information We first spotted Sanderlings in Australia at Old Bar, NSW, in July 2013. B. Hensen reports seeing Sanderlings at Lee Point, Darwin, NT, in March 2013 and July 2013. A single Sanderling was seen by us at the same location in August 2014. P. Brown also found the species at the same location in February 2020. J. Greaves reports spotting Sanderlings at Kilcarnup Beach, WA, in December 2016. M. Eaton reports finding Sanderlings at Nudgee Beach, QLD, in March 2018. Sanderlings were previously also spotted by us in Oman.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

BREEDING

Near-lateral view of a Sanderling in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Nudgee Beach, QLD, March 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a Sanderling in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Nudgee Beach, QLD, March 2018]

NON-BREEDING

Lateral view of Sanderlings in various phases of moulting, from non-breeding (light-grey) to transitional plumage; there is no bird in breeding plumage in this shot (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Lee Point, Darwin, NT, March 2013]

Lateral view of two Sanderlings in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Lee Point, Darwin, NT, July 2013]

Lateral view of a Sanderling in non-breeding plumage with a completely dust-coated bill (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Kilcarnup Beach, WA, December 2016]

Lateral view of a Sanderling in non-breeding plumage in shallow water (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Kilcarnup Beach, WA, December 2016]

3 Sanderlings in non-breeding plumage in shallow water (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Kilcarnup Beach, WA, December 2016]

Small flock of Sanderlings in non-breeding plumage following a wave (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Kilcarnup Beach, WA, December 2016]

Comparison of several Red-necked Stints in non-breeding plumage, left, with a Sanderling in non-breeding plumage, on the right; note the difference in size (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Lee Point, Darwin, NT, July 2013]

Lateral view of a Sanderling in non-breeding plumage in comparison with a Ruddy Turnstone, also in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Lee Point, Darwin, NT, July 2013]

Lateral view of Sanderlings in non-breeding plumage in comparison with a Greater Sand Plover, also in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Lee Point, Darwin, NT, March 2013]

3 Sanderlings in non-breeding plumage in flight - note the characteristic broad white wing bars (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Kilcarnup Beach, WA, December 2016]

More photos were taken by us in Oman.

Behaviour

No information from Australia available yet. To go to the Omani page, click here.

Food, Diet

No information from Australia available yet. To go to the Omani page, click here.

Near-dorsal view of a Sanderling digging something out of the sand (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Nudgee Beach, QLD, March 2018]

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: Tue, 3 March 2020, 5:55 +00:00