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Birds of Zihuatanejo

CLASS AVES

-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Chordates (Phylum Chordata)

-Vertebrates (Subphylum Vertebrata)

-Birds (Class Aves)

-Shorebirds and Allies (Order Charadriiformes)

-Sandpipers and Allies (Family Scolopacidae)

-Calidris Sandpipers (Genus Calidri)

-Sanderling (Calidris alba)


Sanderlings are small, plump sandpipers with a stout bill about the same length as the head. The Sanderling’s black legs blur as it runs back and forth on the beach, picking or probing for tiny prey in the wet sand left by receding waves. Feeds on a wide variety of small creatures on beach, including sand crabs, amphipods, isopods, insects, marine worms, small mollusks; also may eat some carrion.

Sanderling

Calidris alba

Diet

  • Primarily small marine invertebrates, including sand crabs, amphipods, marine worms, molluscs, small crustaceans, and insects.

  • Also feeds on insect larvae, spiders, and occasionally seeds and other plant material.

  • Forages by running rapidly along sandy beaches, probing the wet sand as waves recede.

Range

  • Breeds in the High Arctic of North America, Greenland, Europe, and Asia.

  • Winters along coastlines throughout the world, including the Pacific and Gulf coasts of Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, South America, Africa, Australia, and southern Asia.

  • A common winter visitor to the Zihuatanejo region, where it frequents sandy beaches, mudflats, estuaries, and coastal lagoons.

Male / Female

  • Male: During the breeding season, has richer rufous and black markings on the head, neck, and upperparts; slightly larger on average.

  • Female: Similar in appearance but generally paler with less extensive rufous colouring.

  • Non-breeding season: Both sexes are virtually identical, with pale gray upperparts and white underparts, making them very difficult to distinguish in the field.

Size

  • Length: 18–21 cm (7.1–8.3 in)

  • Wingspan: 36–42 cm (14–16.5 in)

  • Weight: 40–100 g

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