Calidris alba (Pallas, 1764)
Sanderling
No Picture Available

Family:  Scolopacidae (sandpipers)
Max. size:  22 cm TL (male/unsexed)
Environment:  others; freshwater; brackish; marine
Distribution:  Indo-Pacific, Atlantic, Antarctic and the Arctic. Tropical to polar.
Diagnosis:   
Biology:  Found on the beach (Ref. 87921), shoreline, bay and nearshore (Ref. 116102). In small groups at the water's edge during nonbreeding season, following the wave front whilst feeding on small invertebrates. Abundance of wintering populations attributed to major coastal upwellings, correlated to increase in food supply along beaches where they feed. Shorebirds from the North Atlantic typically fly >2000 km, mostly over water, from North America, Greenland, and Iceland, to Britain and continental Europe. Vulnerable to oil spill as a piscivore; saw 50% decline in population from 1989 in Prince William Sound after the Exxon Valdez oil spill (Ref. 87784).
IUCN Red List Status: (LC); Date assessed: 01 October 2016 Ref. 123251)
Threat to humans:  harmless
Country info:   
 

Source and more info: www.sealifebase.org. For personal, classroom, and other internal use only. Not for publication.