Calidris alba (Beach Plover)

Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Afrikaans:

Drietoonstrandloper

Common Names in Dutch:

Drieteenstrandloper

Common Names in English:

Beach Bird, Beach Plover, Bull Peep, Ruddy Plover, Sanderling, Surf Snipe, White Snipe, Whitey

Common Names in Finnish:

Pulmussirri

Common Names in French:

Bècasseau Sanderling, Bécasseau Sanderling, B�casseau Sanderling

Common Names in Hebrew:

חופית לבנה

Common Names in Italian:

Piovanello Tridattilo

Common Names in Japanese:

ミユビシギ

Common Names in Russian:

Песчанка, Peschanka

Common Names in Spanish:

Correlimos Tridáctilo, Playero Blanco

Description

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Physical Description

Adult : Bill: Curvature: straight Shape : rather thick Body: Size: fairly small.Adult Breeding Season : Head : variegated with rusty and black Bill: Curvature: straight Shape: rather thick Neck: variegated with rusty and black Body: Size: fairly small Underparts: variegated with rusty and black.Adult Summer: Head: rusty wash Bill: black Body: Breast: rusty wash Mantle: rusty wash Upperparts: white Legs : Leg Color: black.Adult Winter: Head: mostly white Bill: black Curvature: straight Shape: rather thick Body: Rump : sides white, center blackish Size: fairly small Underparts: white Upperparts: pale brownish-gray Legs: Leg Color: black Tail: pale gray with blackish center.Immature: Head: mostly white Bill: black Curvature: straight Shape: rather thick Body: Rump: sides white, center blackish Size: fairly small Underparts: white Upperparts: pale brownish-gray Legs: Leg Color: black Tail: pale gray with blackish center.

Size/Age/Growth

About 8 inches long, with a wingspan of 15 to 15 inches. Adults weigh about 4.2 ounces .

Habitat

Usually seen in large flocks on ocean beaches.

Vegetation: coastal sand beaches and mudflats • Sensitivity to Disturbancet: Medium

Biology

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Diet

Primarily:

Aquatic Invertebrates

Reproduction

Sanderlings nest on barrens near the sea around the North Pole , and they winter on sandy beaches virtually everywhere.

Clutch Size: 4
Length of Incubation : 24-31 days
Days to Fledge : 17
Number of Broods: 1, occasionally 2

Migration

Migratory

Taxonomy

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Domain: Eukaryota () - Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- Kingdom: Animalia () - Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
  - Subkingdom: Bilateria () - (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983
    - Branch: Deuterostomia () - Grobben, 1908
      - Infrakingdom: Chordonia () - (Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
        Phylum: Chordata () - Bateson, 1885 - Chordates
        Subphylum: Vertebrata () - Cuvier, 1812 - Vertebrates
        Infraphylum: Gnathostomata () - Auct. - Jawed Vertebrates
        Superclass: Tetrapoda () - Goodrich, 1930
        Class: Aves () - Linnaeus, 1758 - Birds
        Subclass: Neornithes () - Gadow, 1893
        Infraclass: Neoaves ()
        Superorder: Passerimorphae ()
        Order: Ciconiiformes () - Bonaparte, 1854 - Albatrosses, Alcids
        Suborder: Charadrii () - Huxley, 1867
        Infraorder: Charadriides () - �
        Parvorder: Scolopacida ()
        Superfamily: Scolopacoidea () - �
        Family: Scolopacidae () - Vigors, 1825
        Subfamily: Tringinae ()
        Genus: Calidris () - Merrem, 1804
        Specific name: alba - (Pallas, 1764)
        Scientific name: - Calidris alba (Pallas, 1764)

Unambiguous Synonyms

Calidris alba (Pallas) 1764

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 17-Oct-2001

Similar Species

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Red Knot, Dunlin

Members of the genus Calidris

There are approximately 60 species in this genus:

C. acuminata (Sharp-Tailed Sandpiper) · C. alba (Sanderling) · C. alba alba · C. alba rubida · C. albus · C. alpina (Dunlin) · C. alpina actites · C. alpina alpina (Dunlin) · C. alpina arctica (Dunlin) · C. alpina arcticola · C. alpina centralis · C. alpina hudsonia · C. alpina kistchinski · C. alpina pacifica (Dunlin) · C. alpina sakhalina · C. alpina schinzii (Dunlin) · C. alpina ssp · C. arenaria · C. bairdi · C. bairdii (Baird's Sandpiper) · C. canutus (Red Knot) · C. canutus canutus (Red Knot) · C. canutus islandica · C. canutus piersmai · C. canutus rogersi · C. canutus roselaari · C. canutus rufa (Red Knot) · C. canutus rufus · C. cooperi · C. ferruginea (Curlew Sandpiper) · C. ferrugineus · C. feruginea (Curlew Sandpiper) · C. fuscicollis (White-Rumped Sandpiper) · C. himantopus (Stilt Sandpiper) · C. maritima (Purple Sandpiper) · C. maritima littoralis · C. maritima maritima · C. mauri (Western Sandpiper) · C. melanotos (Pectoral Sandpiper) · C. minuta (Little Stint) · C. minutilla (Least Sandpiper) · C. minutus · C. ptilocnemis (Rock Sandpiper) · C. ptilocnemis couesi (Rock Sandpiper) · C. ptilocnemis ptilocnemis (Pribilof Rock Sandpiper) · C. ptilocnemis quarta (Rock Sandpiper) · C. ptilocnemis tschuktschorum (Rock Sandpiper) · C. pusilla (Semipalmated Sandpiper) · C. pusillus · C. ruficoilis · C. ruficolis · C. ruficollis (Red-Necked Stint) · C. subminuta (Long-Toed Stint) · C. temminchii · C. temmincki · C. temminckii (Temminck's Stint) · C. temminkii · C. tenuinostris · C. tenuirostris (Great Knot) · C. testacea

Bibliography

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Alsop, Fred J. III. Birds of North America - Eastern Region. First American Edition. Smithsonian Handbooks. DK Publishing, Inc. 2001.
Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, A. L. Gardner, and W. C. Starnes 2003. Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada.
Bird Reference Citations. The numbers inserted in the text accounts above (usually in bold) refer to references. For further details on these references, click on the BirdLife International link above to go to the specific species account on the BirdLife web site. In some cases, particularly in the taxonomic notes, the references are cited using the author names. Details for these can be found on the BirdLife International web site at the following two places: For References from A–L. For References from M–Z.
BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, U.K.
BirdLife International. 2004 Threatened Birds of the World 2004. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.
Ehrlich, P., Dobkin, D., and Wheye, D. (1988). The Birders Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds. New York: Simon and Schuster Inc. (info on clutch size, length of incubation, days to fledge and number of broods.)
Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc. (Length and wingspan info.)

More Info

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Search for Pictures: images.google.com
Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Notes

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Contributors

BirdLife International 2004. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.
Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed November 11, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 33 providers.
Universal Biological Indexer and Organizer. uBio.org accessed July 17, 2008.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 11, 2007:

Avian Knowledge Network, eBird
Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Bishop Museum Natural History Specimen Data
Biologiezentrum der Oberoesterreichischen Landesmuseen, Biologiezentrum Linz
Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, North West Territories and Nunavut Bird Checklist, Canada
Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. Birds
Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, Royal British Columbia Museum
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
New Brunswick Museum, NBM birds
OZCAM
Provider, Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara Musem of Natural History
The Danish Biodiversity Information Facility, Western Palearctic migrants in continental Africa
UNIBIO, IBUNAM, CNAV/Coleccion Nacional de Aves
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
, Bird specimens
Upper Silesian Museum, Bytom, Upper Silesian Museum, Bird Observations

Identifiers

Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3851098
Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-176669
Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13816270
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 176669
IUCN ID: 49074
Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: ABNNF11030
Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 7532