Rock Sandpiper

Calidris ptilocnemis (Coues, 1873)

≈24 cmLength40 cmWingspan81 gWeight

This cold-tolerant sandpiper has short legs and feet and a slender, dark bill as an adult, and migrates to rocky coasts in winter.

Busiest months: June · Most records: United States, Canada, Japan

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Adult legs and feet short
Adult bill slender and dark
Adult upperparts rather dark; underparts mostly white
Adult breast washed gray; rump black

Where and when it's recorded

Rock Sandpiper has been recorded at 23 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 3 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

St. Paul IslandUnited States8,131 records
GambellUnited States2,148 records
Southeast Farallon IslandUnited States1,871 records

More places

Heron's Head ParkUnited States1,229 records
Clover PointCanada162 records
Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal JettyCanada87 records
Oak Bay – Cattle PointCanada81 records
Neah Bay – town and bay onlyUnited States43 records
Pillar Point HarborUnited States40 records
Iona IslandCanada32 records

Countries and regions with the most records

United States Canada Japan

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 rock sandpiper (Calidris ptilocnemis) is a small shorebird in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae. This is a hardy sandpiper that breeds in the arctic and subarctic regions of Alaska and the Chukotka and Kamchatka Peninsulas. It is closely related to the purple sandpiper that breeds in arctic regions of northeast Canada and the northwest Palearctic, and in the past was often considered conspecific with it.

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

Questions

How big is the Rock Sandpiper?

The Rock Sandpiper is about ≈24 cm long, with a wingspan of 40 cm and weighs around 81 g.

Where does the Rock Sandpiper live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic, North America: coastal low Arctic to subarctic tundra of far northern Pacific: eastern Chukotskiy Peninsula to (disjunctly) southern Kamchatka, Commander and (perhaps) northern Kuril islands (eastern Russia), Aleutian and Bering Sea islands, western Alaska from Seward Peninsula to Gulf of Alaska islands. It is most often recorded in United States, Canada and Japan.

When is the best time to see the Rock Sandpiper?

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

Is the Rock Sandpiper endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Rock Sandpiper as Least Concern.

What does the Rock Sandpiper eat?

Main food: Fish, shrimp & shellfish.

What family is the Rock Sandpiper in?

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

At a glance

Length: ≈24 cm
Wingspan: 40 cm
Weight: 81 g
Habitat: Grassland
Diet: Fish, shrimp & shellfish
Lifestyle: Active on the ground
Migration: Migratory
Conservation: Least Concern

More measurements

Wing: 130 mm
Tail: 59 mm
Bill: 34 mm
Tarsus: 24 mm

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

Range

Palearctic, North America: coastal low Arctic to subarctic tundra of far northern Pacific: eastern Chukotskiy Peninsula to (disjunctly) southern Kamchatka, Commander and (perhaps) northern Kuril islands (eastern Russia), Aleutian and Bering Sea islands, western Alaska from Seward Peninsula to Gulf of Alaska islands

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2