Western Sandpiper

Description

Western Sandpipers are small, round shorebirds. They have long black legs, long and slightly curved bills, and a small, pointed tail. Breeding adults are white on their underbelly with a beautiful black, brown, and orangish colored plumage on their back and wings. A similar warm brown color is on the cap and patch near their ears. Outside of the breeding season, they lose the brown and black feathers and become gray and white.

Habitat and Status

Western Sandpipers are the most abundant shorebirds when they return to the Chugach Region during the spring migration. They also winter in large flocks along beaches and mudflats, where they use their long bill to probe the mud or sand, looking for insects and small aquatic invertebrates. Females have longer bills than males, so their hunting techniques vary. Males often use their sight, frequently pecking at items on the ground. In contrast, females tend to probe, using their longer bills to extract buried food. During the breeding season, Western Sandpipers move up into the arctic tundra, where the males will arrive first. The male Sandpipers must withstand the snow and ice, possibly for weeks until the tundra starts to clear up. Once it clears, the males will establish their territories in which their mate will nest. Audubon models suggest that most of their tundra breeding range will be lost in our rapidly warming climate.

Western Sandpipers tend to be found near estuaries in the Chugach Region such as the Copper River Delta, Chickaloon Flats, Kasilof Flats and along the Homer spit.