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Purple Sandpiper
Calidris maritima
Identify the Purple Sandpiper by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.
The Purple Sandpiper is a hardy, slate-grey sandpiper that breeds on the Arctic tundra and in the subarctic mountains of Fennoscandia, and winters on ice-free, wave-battered rocky coasts of the North Atlantic, from north-eastern North America and Iceland to northern Europe. It winters further north than almost any other wader and is often seen with Ruddy Turnstones.
Did you know?
- Unusually for a wader, the male does most of the incubation and chick care.
- It winters remarkably far north, often staying where waves crash onto icy rocks.
Voice
About the species
Identification
A stocky, dark sandpiper, dark grey above and paler below; in winter plumage there is a faint purple sheen. The legs and bill base are yellowish in summer and orange in winter, and the bill is slightly drooping. In flight a narrow white wing bar shows. Its dark grey, rather uniform look helps separate it from other small sandpipers.
Family
Scolopacidae
Size
Medium (thrush)
Colours
grey, white, black, orange
About the habitat
Breeds on stony Arctic tundra and barren upland plateaus near water. In winter exposed rocky coasts, skerries, breakwaters and piers.
Diet
Marine invertebrates such as periwinkles, small mussels and other molluscs, amphipods and other crustaceans, worms and insects such as seaweed flies, picked from wave-washed rocks and seaweed; also some plant material.
Behaviour
Feeds by pecking and probing among algae, barnacles and crevices on wave-washed rocks, often in heavy surf. Usually tame and approachable, it forms small flocks in winter and shows strong fidelity to traditional wintering sites such as jetties and breakwaters. The male makes several nest scrapes, the female chooses one, and the male does most of the incubation and chick care.
Sources
Photo: Chuck Homler d/b/a Focus On Wildlife, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PUSA perched LBI.jpg
Sound: Jochem Verweij, XC905748, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/905748
Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_sandpiper
