Gray-breasted sandpiper
| Gray-breasted sandpiper | ||||||||||
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Gray-breasted sandpiper ( Calidris melanotos ) in magnificent dress |
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| Calidris melanotos | ||||||||||
| ( Vieillot , 1819) |
The gray-breasted sandpiper ( Calidris melanotos ) is a species of bird in the family of snipe birds . The IUCN classifies the sandpiped sandpiper as 
(= least concern - not endangered). The population is estimated by BirdLife International at 25,000 to 100,000 sexually mature individuals.
Appearance
The gray-breasted sandpiper reaches a body length of 19 to 23 centimeters. The wingspan is 38 to 44 centimeters, the weight 55 to 120 grams.
In a splendid dress, the gray-chested sandpiper has a dark brown, black and brown striped top of the head. The ear covers are reddish brown and contrast with the paler and finer striped cheeks. A dark brown stripe runs between the eye and the base of the beak. The beak is long and slightly curved at the tip. The iris is dark brown. The throat is white. The neck and chest are light brownish with darker brown stripes. The drawing of the chest forms a wide, strikingly patterned band, which has led to the English name Pectoral Sandpiper for this species. The white underside of the body is sharply set off from this.
The coat and back are dark brown with broad, chestnut or reddish brown hems. The bird looks scaly on the upper side of the body. The trunk and the upper tail-coverts are dark brown to black, the sides of the trunk are white, the outer tail feathers are gray. The middle tail feathers are elongated, which is particularly noticeable in the flying gray-breasted sandpipers.
The gray-breasted sandpiper is very similar to the pointed-tail sandpiper ( Calidris acuminata ). The most important distinguishing feature between the two species is the sharply defined chest drawing of the gray-chested sandpiper.
distribution
The gray-breasted sandpiper occurs in eastern Russia and western North America. In Asia, the gray-breasted sandpiper breeds from the Taimyr Peninsula to the Chukchi Peninsula . The main focus here is on the north coast. The gray-breasted sandpiper is absent on the islands off the north coast except for Wrangel Island . In North America, the gray-chested sandpiper breeds from northwest Alaska along the coast of the mainland to Hudson Bay . It also breeds on the Banks Island , the Victoria Island to Southampton Iceland , the Prince of Wales Island , south of the Parry Islands and Ellesmere Iceland . The gray-breasted sandpiper is a migratory bird. Both the birds of Russia and those of North America winter in South America. However, a small part of the population can also be found on the Japanese islands and the Korean peninsula during the winter months .
The habitat of the sandpiped sandpiper is the tundra . During the winter half-year it is found on grassland and on alluvial areas near the coast.
Way of life
The gray-breasted sandpiper mainly eats invertebrates. Insects and their larvae play a special role in its food spectrum. In the wintering areas it also eats crustaceans and mussels.
In the winter half-year, the sandpiped sandpiper lives sociable, but rather solitary in the breeding areas. The males occupy a territory and are polygamous . The nest is a deep hollow hidden in the vegetation. The clutch usually consists of four eggs. These are off-white or pale green in color and have dark spots. It mainly breeds the female. The breeding season is 21 to 22 days. The newly hatched young are flocked by the male for several days. They fledge at around 30 days of age and become sexually mature as yearlings.
swell
literature
- Richard Sale: A Complete Guide to Arctic Wildlife. Christopher Helm Publisher, London 2006, ISBN 0-7136-7039-8
Individual evidence
- ↑ BirdLife factsheet on the gray-chested sandpiper , accessed on December 16, 2010
- ^ Lars Svensson, Peter J. Grant, Killian Mullarney, Dan Zetterström: Der neue Kosmos Vogelführer . Kosmos, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-440-07720-9 , p. 156
- ↑ Sale, p. 188
- ^ Sale, p. 187
- ↑ Sale, p. 188
Web links
- BirdLife factsheet on the gray-chested sandpiper
- Calidris melanotos inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . 2. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2014.