Sandpiper
| Sandpiper | ||||||||
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Sandpiper |
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| Systematics | ||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||
| Calidris pusilla | ||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1766) |
The sandpiper ( Calidris pusilla ) is a widespread, monotypical species of the snipe family that breeds in the southern tundra of Alaska and Canada. He is an occasional stranger to Europe and is sighted in Great Britain and Ireland almost every year.
description
The sand sandpiper is one of the smaller sandpipers with a body length of 16 centimeters . Adult birds have dark legs and a short, straight dark beak. The top of the body is gray-brown, while the underside of the body is white. The head and neck are light gray-brown. It is very difficult to distinguish from another species of sandpiper, namely the sandpiper .
Sandpipers nest on the ground. The male scratches several hollows in the floor. The female is the one who chooses one of these troughs in the ground as a nesting place and pads it with grass and other material. The average clutch is four eggs. The male participates in the breeding business. After a few days, the female leaves the male who is leading the young birds.
distribution
The sandpiper is a Nearctic breeding bird north of the tree line in the west and the center of Alaska and northern Canada. They occasionally breed in northeastern Siberia as well.
Sand sandpipers are long-distance migrants. They overwinter mainly in the coastal area of South America. Only a small part of the population spends winter in the southern United States. The birds migrate to the wintering areas in large flocks. The flocks can occasionally contain up to 100,000 birds. Well-known collecting areas for this bird species are the Bay of Fundy and Delaware Bay .
The birds look for their food in the mud of the coastal areas. They mainly eat aquatic insects and crustaceans.
supporting documents
literature
- Jonathan Alderfer (Ed.): Complete Birds of North America , National Geographic, Washington DC 2006, ISBN 0-7922-4175-4
Single receipts
- ↑ Hans-Günther Bauer, Einhard Bezzel and Wolfgang Fiedler (eds.): The compendium of birds in Central Europe: Everything about biology, endangerment and protection. Volume 1: Nonpasseriformes - non-sparrow birds , Aula-Verlag Wiebelsheim, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-89104-647-2 , p. 528
Web links
- Calidris pusilla inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2013.