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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Calidris pusilla
Semipalmated Sandpiper

 
Scientific Name: Calidris pusilla (Linnaeus, 1766)
English Name: Semipalmated Sandpiper
 
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - Concept Reference: American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Classification Level: Species
Species Group: Vertebrate Animal
Species Code: B-SESA
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Animalia Craniata Aves Charadriiformes Scolopacidae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G5 (Apr 2016)
Provincial Status: SUM (Mar 2015)
BC List: Unknown
Provincial FRPA list:   
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status:
SARA Schedule:
General Status Canada: 3 - Sensitive (2005)
Migratory Bird Convention Act: Y
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description:
Global Reproduction Comments: Begins breeding late May or early to mid-June. Usually 4 eggs incubated by both sexes, in turn, 18-21.5 days. Young tended by both parents, can fly at 14-19 days. May have same mate in successive years. Breeding population includes some yearlings. Up to 20 nests per sq km in some areas of northern Alaska.
Global Ecology Comments: Average territory size 1 ha on breeding grounds in Manitoba (Gratto et al. 1985). Seen in association with least sandpiper, sanderling, and semipalmated plover. Often in large flocks.
Migration Characteristics:
(Global / Provincial)		 
    Nonmigrant:
    Local Migrant:
    Distant Migrant:
    Within Borders Migrant: 		N /
N /
Y /
na /
Global Migration Comments: Begins migrating northward in April, passing through U.S. in mid-May; arrives in breeding areas late May-early June. Northward and southward migration through interior North America are primarily east of Rockies, and on Atlantic-Gulf coast.

Southbound migrants from Alaska migrate chiefly across the Great Plains. Southbound migrants from the Canadian arctic (central and eastern breeding range) stop and feed at estuaries in Canadian maritime provinces and northeastern U.S. before flying nonstop to wintering areas in South America. The Bay of Fundy is a very important migration stop (may be used by 1-2 million birds in fall; Mawhinney et al. 1993). Adults depart breeding areas on Victoria Island by the end of July, juveniles depart in early to mid-August. Migrates through Costa Rica mid-August to mid-November and March-early May (Stiles and Skutch 1989).

In spring, western breeders migrate northward apparently through the interior of North America whereas most central and eastern breeders follow an Atlantic route from northern South America to the eastern U.S. at Delaware Bay (some migrate through interior of North America). Spring migrants in interior North America evidently use multiple stopover areas enroute to breeding areas (Skagen and Knopf 1994).

Birds wintering on the north coast of Brazil probably derive from breeding grounds in the eastern Arctic; birds on the western part of the north coast of South America and on the northern part of the Pacific coast likely come from the western sectors of the breeding grounds (Morrison and Ross 1989).
Habitats:
(Type / Subtype / Dependence) 		Lakes / Lake / Facultative - frequent use
Lakes / Pond/Open Water / Facultative - frequent use
Ocean / Intertidal Marine / Facultative - frequent use
Other Unique Habitats / Estuary / Facultative - occasional use
Other Unique Habitats / Mudflats - Intertidal / Facultative - frequent use
Wetland / Bog / Facultative - occasional use
Wetland / Fen / Facultative - occasional use
Wetland / Marsh / Facultative - occasional use
Wetland / Swamp / Facultative - occasional use
Global Habitat Comments: Nonbreeding: mudflats, sandy beaches, shores of lakes and ponds, and wet meadows (AOU 1983). In northern Alaska, postbreeding habitat was mainly coastal mudflats and slough edges (Smith and Connors 1993). Breeds on grassy or dry shrubby tundra, usually near water. In northern Alaska, favored areas with well-drained ridges for nesting and adjacent wet tundra for feeding (see Johnson and Herter 1989). Often returns to nest in natal area or area of previous nesting (Gratto et al. 1985). The nest is a shallow depression, lined with grasses, moss, and leaves. See also Rodrigues (1994).
Food Habits: Invertivore: Adult, Immature
Global Food Habits Comments: Feeds primarily on aquatic insects; also eats mollusks, worms, and crustaceans. In spring at Delaware Bay, consumes large numbers of horseshoe crab eggs (Castro and Myers 1993, Botton et al. 1994). Runs along sand or mud snatching at food, sometimes probes for food with bill.
Global Phenology: Circadian: Adult, Immature
Global Phenology Comments: See Robert et al. (1989).
Provincial Phenology:
(1st half of month/
2nd half of month)
Colonial Breeder: N
Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): 16/ / 28
Elevation (m) (min / max): Global: 
Provincial: 
   
 
Distribution
Endemic: N
Global Range Comment: BREEDS: western and northern Alaska, northern Yukon, northrn Mackenzie, Canadian arctic islands (except northernmost), and northern Labrador south to western Alaska, east-central Mackenzie, southeastern Keewatin, northeastern Manitoba, Southampton Island, northern Ontario, northern Quebec, and coastal Labrador. Nonbreeders often spend breeding season in coastal North America south to Gulf Coast, Panama. NORTHERN WINTER: Florida and Bahamas south to West Indies, Atlantic coast of South America (to Paraguay and southern Brazil), and Pacific coast from Guatemala south to northern Chile. Accidental in Hawaii. By far the largest numbers in winter occur on the northern coast of South America, centered on Suriname and the Guianas (Morrison and Ross 1989). Delaware Bay is the most important spring stopover in the eastern U.S. (Clark et al. 1993). The Bay of Fundy is an important staging area during fall migration and is used by perhaps 1-2 million individuals (up to 50-90% of the world population) (Mawhinney et al. 1993).
 
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author: Hammerson, G.
Last Updated: Feb 15, 1995
Provincial Information Author:
Last Updated:
   
References and Related Literature
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
Botton, M. L., R. E. Loveland, and T. R. Jacobsen. 1994. Site selection by migratory shorebirds in Delaware Bay, and its relationship to beach characteristics and abundance of horseshoe crab (LIMULUS POLYPHEMUS) eggs. Auk 111:605-616.
Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, et al. 1990b. The Birds of British Columbia Vol. 2: Nonpasserines: Diurnal Birds of Prey through Woodpeckers. Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, BC.
Castro, G., and J. P. Myers. 1993. Shorebird predation on eggs of horseshoe crabs during spring stopover on Delaware Bay. Auk 110:927-930.
Clark, K. E., L. J. Niles, and J. Burger. 1993. Abundance and distribution of migrant shorebirds in Delaware Bay. Condor 95:694-705.
Gratto, C. L., R. I. G. Morrison, and F. Cooke. 1985. Philopatry, site tenacity, and mate fidelity in the semipalmated sandpiper. Auk 102:16-24.
Gratto-Trevor, C. L., and H. L. Dickson. 1994. Confirmation of elliptical migration in a population of semipalmated sandpipers. Wilson Bull. 106:78-90.
Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
Hayman, P., J. Marchant, and T. Prater. 1986. Shorebirds: an identification guide to the waders of the world. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.
Johnson, S. R. and D. R. Herter. 1989. The Birds of the Beaufort Sea. BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Anchorage, Alaska. 372 pp.
Mawhinney, K., P. W. Hicklin, and J. S. Boates. 1993. A re-evaluation of the numbers of migrant semipalmated sandpipers, CALIDRIS PUSILLA, in the Bay of Fundy during fall migration. Can. Field-Nat. 107:19-23.
Morrison, R. I. G., and R. K. Ross. 1989. Atlas of Nearctic shorebirds on the coast of South America. Vols. 1 and 2. Canadian Wildl. Serv. Spec. Publ. 325 pp.
Morrison, R. I. G., R. E. Gill, Jr., B. A. Harrington, S. Skagen, G. W. Page, C. L. Gratto-Trevor, and S. M. Haig. 2001. Estimates of shorebird populations in North America. Occasional Paper Number 104, Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, Ottawa, ON. 64 pages.
Raffaele, H. A. 1983a. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Fondo Educativo Interamericano, San Juan, Puerto Rico. 255 pp.
Robbins, C.S., B. Bruun, and H.S. Zim. 1966. A guide to field identification. Birds of North America. Golden Press Publishers, New York.
Robert, M., R. McNeil, and A. Leduc. 1989. Conditions and significance of night feeding in shorebirds and other water birds in a tropical lagoon. Auk 106:94-101.
Rodrigues, R. 1994. Microhabitat variables influencing nest-site selection by tundra birds. Ecological Applications 4:110-116.
Skagen, S. K., and F. L. Knopf. 1994. Residency patterns of migrating sandpipers at a midcontinental stopover. Condor 96:949-958.
Smith, K. G., and P. G. Connors. 1993. Postbreeding habitat selection by shorebirds, water birds, and land birds at Barrow, Alaska: a multivariate analysis. Can. J. Zool. 71:1629-1638.
Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp.
Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
 

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1995. Species Summary: Calidris pusilla. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 7, 2026).