Purple Sandpiper
Calidris maritima
Habitat
Ground
Diet
Invertebrate
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
65 g
About This Species
A dumpy, dark shorebird of rocky, wave-splashed coastlines and breakwaters in winter, breeding on Arctic tundra in summer. It forages among seaweed-covered rocks at low tide and can be remarkably tame, allowing close views without much effort. Winter along rocky shores in northwest Europe and northeast North America is by far the easiest time and place to see one.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Protected as a migratory shorebird under bird conservation law in both its European and North American wintering ranges.
- Even though individuals often tolerate a close approach, it is better to let birds come to you and view roosting flocks from a distance with binoculars, since flushing them from rocks costs energy they need to survive winter conditions.
LCAvesCharadriiformesScolopacidae
Seasonal Activity
369,084 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Scolopacidae
Traits
- Diet
- Invertebrate
- Foraging
- Ground
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 65 g
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.