Baird's Sandpiper

Calidris bairdii (Coues, 1861)

≈20 cmLength38 cmWingspan41 gWeight

Its long wingtips project beyond the tail when standing.

Busiest months: August · Most records: United States, Canada, Chile

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Wingtips project beyond tail tip when standing
Adult has black patches on rump
Adult head and breast pale brown with dark streaks
Adult legs black; bill short, straight, slender and dark

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: August · Most records: United States, Canada, Chile

Baird's Sandpiper has been recorded at 792 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 48 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Willcox – Lake Cochise and Twin Lakes Golf CourseUnited States5,314 records
Hornsby BendUnited States3,526 records
Lagerman Agricultural Preserve – Lagerman ReservoirUnited States2,407 records

More places

Hagerman NWRUnited States2,347 records
Cheyenne Bottoms WAUnited States1,968 records
Muskegon Wastewater SystemUnited States1,900 records
Presqu'ile Provincial ParkCanada1,688 records
Mitchell Lake Audubon CenterUnited States1,576 records
Antelope Island SP – CausewayUnited States1,415 records
SN Humedal Río Maipo – DesembocaduraChile1,343 records

Countries and regions with the most records

United States Canada Chile Argentina Peru Ecuador Mexico United Kingdom

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

Baird's sandpiper (Calidris bairdii) is a small shorebird. It is among those Calidris species which were formerly sometimes included in the genus Erolia, which was subsumed into the genus Calidris in 1973. The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Baird's Sandpiper?

The Baird's Sandpiper is about ≈20 cm long, with a wingspan of 38 cm and weighs around 41 g.

Where does the Baird's Sandpiper live?

Its breeding range: North America, Palearctic: high Arctic (locally to subarctic) dry tundra: Wrangel Island (north of northeastern Siberia and eastern Chukotskiy Peninsula (far northeastern Siberia), northern, central Alaska, northern Canada including Arctic islands from Banks to Ellesmere and Baffin islands and northwestern Greenland. It is most often recorded in United States, Canada and Chile.

When is the best time to see the Baird's Sandpiper?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in August (Northern Hemisphere).

Is the Baird's Sandpiper endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Baird's Sandpiper as Least Concern.

What does the Baird's Sandpiper eat?

Main food: Fish, shrimp & shellfish.

What family is the Baird's Sandpiper in?

It belongs to the family Sandpipers, Snipes (Scolopacidae), order Charadriiformes.

At a glance

Length: ≈20 cm
Wingspan: 38 cm
Weight: 41 g
Habitat: Grassland
Diet: Fish, shrimp & shellfish
Lifestyle: Active on the ground
Migration: Migratory
Conservation: Least Concern

More measurements

Wing: 122 mm
Tail: 50 mm
Bill: 26 mm
Tarsus: 22 mm

Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.

Range

North America, Palearctic: high Arctic (locally to subarctic) dry tundra: Wrangel Island (north of northeastern Siberia and eastern Chukotskiy Peninsula (far northeastern Siberia), northern, central Alaska, northern Canada including Arctic islands from Banks to Ellesmere and Baffin islands and northwestern Greenland

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2