Western Sandpipers in flight - a photo on Flickriver

            
The western sandpiper (Calidris mauri) is a small shorebird. The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific mauri commemorates Italian botanist Ernesto Mauri (1791–1836).[2]

Adults have dark legs and a short, thin, dark bill, thinner at the tip. The body is brown on top and white underneath. They are reddish-brown on the crown. This bird can be difficult to distinguish from other similar tiny shorebirds, especially the semipalmated sandpiper. This is particularly the case in winter plumage, when both species are plain gray. The western sandpiper acquires winter plumage much earlier in the autumn than the semipalmated sandpiper.

Their breeding habitat is tundra in eastern Siberia and Alaska. They nest on the ground usually under some vegetation. The male makes several scrapes; the female selects one and lays 4 eggs. Both parents incubate and care for dependent young, who feed themselves. Sometimes the female deserts her mate and brood prior to offspring fledging.

They migrate to both coasts of North America and South America. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.

These birds forage on mudflats during migration and the non-breeding season by probing or picking up food by sight. Foraging occurs on tundra and wet meadows during the breeding season. They mainly eat insects, small crustaceans, and mollusks.

This is one of the most abundant shorebird species in North America with a population in the millions.

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classificationedit
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Charadriiformes
Family:Scolopacidae
Genus:Calidris
Species:C. mauri
Binomial name
Calidris mauri
(Cabanis, 1857)
Calidris mauri map.svg
Synonyms
Ereunetes mauri
Erolia mauri
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Shoreline-942419
   

Taken in: United States / California / Rincon De San Francisquito (show map)

Taken on: November 9, 2019

Tags:

hi key

Shoreline

ILCE-9

G Master FE 100-400mm super-telephoto zoom lens

SEL100400GM

TC1.4

Western Sandpiper

peeps

water fowl

winter pulmage

minimal

grey

Sony Alpha a9

Sony ILCE9

Sony G Master FE 100-400mm super-telephoto zoom lens

Sony SEL100400GM

nine

ALittleBeauty

SunshineGroup

EIAP

damn

COTH

coth5

aatv 1000 wait

1000V « less

Sets appears in: • 2019 10 Shoreline

Groups appears in: • San Francisco Bay Area Birders • Bird Fanatics! (No Limits) more » • Views: 1000 • Views 1000 • 1,000+ Views Any Kine Photos (Limit 3 Per Day) • 1,000 View Club (Max 1,099 Views) • Photos with 1000 views (and more) • minimum 1000 views • Excellence In Avian Photography (EIAP) -- INVITED IMAGES ONLY !! • V1000 • Bird Watching Group (BWG): Post 1 : Award 2 • " Damn Cool Photographers in the WORLD " .♥.♥.♥ • Damn! I Wish I'd Taken That!!! (Invite Only) Post 1-Award2 . • Birds Photos - Check out the new discussions! • All birds all the time • Sony Alpha Bird Photographers • !! Shooting Star ✵ 0-40 Faves (P1, A+F4) ✵ Level ZERO • Colors Of The Heart! *Invited Images Only*! • Best Of DAMN! I Wish I'd Taken That • ! FavTop 0-49 (P1, A+F4) • Eblouissante Nature / Brilliant Nature - P1/C2 - No People • 1,000 Views Unlimited 1000 • 1.000 / 1000 views at least (NO LIMITS, NO 30/60) • Views 1000-1499 • FAV 0-20 (P1, A+F5) • Vögel aller Art !Birds of all kinds! • Vögel nur im Flug-Birds only in flight « less

Camera: Sony ILCE-9, f/8.0, 1/200 sec, 483mm, ISO 500 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Sony ILCE-9
Lens:	FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS + 1.4X Teleconverter
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.005 sec (1/200)
Focal Length:	483mm
ISO:	500
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Shutter speed priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 9.0 (Macintosh)
Show full info

Stats: 1,823 views / 42 comments

go back

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: