Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

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Sharp-tailed Sandpiper by Timothy Paasila / Macaulay Library

Sandpipers

Sharp-tailed SandpiperCalidris acuminata

ORDER: Charadriiformes
FAMILY: Scolopacidae

Basic Description

Sharp-tailed Sandpipers are stunning in their vibrant breeding plumage—splashed with rich cinnamon on the back and breast, boldly spotted below, and topped off with a neat chestnut cap. This species nests on remote Siberian tundra, where males mate as many times as possible and then depart breeding territories while females are still incubating eggs. Sharp-tailed Sandpipers are long-distance migrants, but with a twist: recently hatched juveniles migrate alone to western Alaska before undertaking an incredible, nonstop trans-Pacific flight to the species' nonbreeding grounds in Australasia.

More ID Info

Year-roundBreedingMigrationNonbreeding

Range map provided by Birds of the World

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Other Names

Correlimos Acuminado (Spanish)
Bécasseau à queue pointue (French)

Cool Facts
- Juvenile Sharp-tailed Sandpipers make a unique, epic migration, all by themselves. After adults migrate south from Russian breeding grounds to Australasia, juveniles fly about 2,300 km (1,400 miles) east to western Alaska. There they spend a month or two fattening up—sometimes doubling their weight—before embarking on a nearly 10,000 km (6,200 miles) nonstop flight over the Pacific Ocean to reach Australasia. This flight rivals that of the Bristle-thighed Curlew and Bar-tailed Godwit. And Sharp-tailed Sandpipers are a fraction of their size, and the juvenile sandpipers make the journey without any previous experience or parental guidance.
- A few juvenile Sharp-tailed Sandpipers turn up along the Pacific Coast of North America each fall. Most sightings are between late August and mid-November at coastal sites from southern British Columbia to central California.
- Like good neighbors, Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Pectoral Sandpipers seem to give each other some space to limit disputes. The breeding territories of these two similar species overlap extensively, but they are rarely aggressive towards each other. This may be because Sharp-tailed Sandpipers nest at least 33 m (110 feet) from Pectoral Sandpipers, even though Sharp-tailed Sandpipers nest closer to other shorebird species.
- The Sharp-tailed Sandpiper was described to science in 1821, based on a specimen from Java, (part of present-day Indonesia), but its nest was not documented until 1957, when K. A. Vorobiev found a single nest in the Russian Far East.