Bird Album
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Calidris subruficollis (Vieillot, 1819)
≈21 cmLength62 gWeight
This sandpiper has a pale yellow face and belly, with yellow legs and feet.
Busiest months: September · Most records: United States, Canada, United Kingdom
How to identify
Field marks
- Face and underparts pale yellow
- Upperparts rufous
- Bill short; legs and feet yellow
Male, female and young
Male is larger than female; juvenile resembles adult but may have paler rear underparts.
Where and when it's recorded
Buff-breasted Sandpiper has been recorded at 565 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 73 countries and regions.
Records by month Northern Hemisphere
To protect this bird from disturbance, we don't list exact sites.
Countries and regions with the most records
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
The buff-breasted sandpiper (Calidris subruficollis) is a small shorebird. It is a calidrid sandpiper, notable for its long annual migration, from the arctic region of North America to the pampas region of South America.
Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia
Questions
How big is the Buff-breasted Sandpiper?
The Buff-breasted Sandpiper is about ≈21 cm long and weighs around 62 g.
Where does the Buff-breasted Sandpiper live?
Its breeding range: North America, Palearctic: high Arctic dry coastal tundra of far northeastern Palearctic and northern Nearctic: northern Chukotka east from Wrangel Island (north of northeastern Siberia), Alaskan North Slope from Point Barrow east through northeastern Canada, including Arctic islands from Banks to Devon islands (northeastern Canada). It is most often recorded in United States, Canada and United Kingdom.
When is the best time to see the Buff-breasted Sandpiper?
At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in September (Northern Hemisphere).
Is the Buff-breasted Sandpiper endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Buff-breasted Sandpiper as Vulnerable.
What does the Buff-breasted Sandpiper eat?
Main food: Omnivore.
What family is the Buff-breasted Sandpiper in?
It belongs to the family Sandpipers, Snipes (Scolopacidae), order Charadriiformes.
At a glance
- Length
- ≈21 cm
- Weight
- 62 g
- Habitat
- Grassland
- Diet
- Omnivore
- Lifestyle
- Active on the ground
- Migration
- Migratory
- Conservation
- Vulnerable
More measurements
- Wing
- 128 mm
- Tail
- 55 mm
- Bill
- 23 mm
- Tarsus
- 29 mm
Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.
Range
North America, Palearctic: high Arctic dry coastal tundra of far northeastern Palearctic and northern Nearctic: northern Chukotka east from Wrangel Island (north of northeastern Siberia), Alaskan North Slope from Point Barrow east through northeastern Canada, including Arctic islands from Banks to Devon islands (northeastern Canada)
Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2
Classification
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Sandpipers, Snipes Scolopacidae
- Genus
- Calidris
Other birds in the genus Calidris
Great KnotCalidris tenuirostris
Red KnotCalidris canutus
SurfbirdCalidris virgata
RuffCalidris pugnax
Broad-billed SandpiperCalidris falcinellus
Sharp-tailed SandpiperCalidris acuminata
Stilt SandpiperCalidris himantopus
Curlew SandpiperCalidris ferruginea
Temminck's StintCalidris temminckii
Long-toed StintCalidris subminuta
Red-necked StintCalidris ruficollis
Spoon-billed SandpiperCalidris pygmaea
Download illustration
Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Terry Sohl. ↗
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