Semipalmated Sandpiper

__NOTOC__Taxobox
name = Semipalmated Sandpiper
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
status_ref = [IUCN2006|assessors=BirdLife International|year=2004|id=49075|title=Calidris pusilla|downloaded=11 May 2006 Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern]

---

image_width = 250px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Charadriiformes
familia = Scolopacidae
genus = "Calidris" (disputed)
species = "C. pusilla"
binomial = "Calidris pusilla"
binomial_authority = Linnaeus, 1766
synonyms ="Ereunetes pusillus" (but see text)
"Erolia pusilla"

The Semipalmated Sandpiper, "Calidris pusilla", is a very small shorebird. It is sometimes separated with other "stints" in "Erolia" but although these apparently form a monophyletic group, the present species' old genus "Ereunetes" had been proposed before "Erolia".

Adults have black legs and a short stout straight dark bill. The body is dark grey-brown on top and white underneath. The head and neck are tinged light grey-brown. This bird can be difficult to distinguish from other similar tiny shorebirds, in particular the Western Sandpiper; these are known collectively as "peeps" or "stints".

Their breeding habitat is the southern tundra in Canada and Alaska near water. They nest on the ground. The male makes several shallow scrapes, the female chooses one and adds grass and other material to line the nest. The female lays 4 eggs; the male assists in incubation. After a few days, the female leaves the young with the male; the young feed themselves.

They are long distance migrants and winter in coastal South America with some going to the southern United States. They migrate in flocks which can number in the hundreds of thousands, particularly in favoured feeding locations such as the Bay of Fundy and Delaware Bay. This species is a rare but regular vagrant to western Europe.

These birds forage on mudflats, picking up food by sight and feel (bill). They mainly eat aquatic insects and crustaceans.

Although very numerous, these birds are highly dependent on a few key stopover habitats during their migration, notably, Shepody Bay, an arm of the Bay of Fundy [http://www.atl.ec.gc.ca/wildlife/ramsar/shepody.html] .

During the months of July and August you can go to one of two information centers run by the Nature Conservancy of Canada about the shorebirds in either Johnson's Mills or Mary's point.

References

Further reading

Identification

* Jonsson, Lars & Peter J. Grant (1984) Identification of stints and peeps "British Birds" 77(7):293-315

External links

* [http://www.birdspix.com/ARCHIVE%20SPECIES%20PAGES/Semipalmated%20Sandpiper.html Semipalmated Sandpiper Photographs] - John S. Schwarz Bird Photography
* [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Semipalmated_Sandpiper.html Semipalmated Sandpiper Species Account] - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
* [http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i2460id.html Semipalmated Sandpiper Calidris pusilla] - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
* [http://www.sdakotabirds.com/species/semipalmated_sandpiper_info.htm Semipalmated Sandpiper Information and Photos] - South Dakota Birds and Birding
* [http://www.natureconservancy.ca/files/frame.asp?lang=e_&region=1&sec=projects&screen=144 Johnson's Mills Nature Preserve on Shepody Bay]
* [http://www.surfbirds.com/Features/coxpeeps1006/coxpeeps1006.html An online identification article covering this species and other small calidrids]