Calidris bairdii
This sandpiper is a modest-looking shorebird with extraordinary migratory habits. Like many shorebirds, the Baird's Sandpiper only remains on its breeding grounds in the tundra for a very short period of time. Soon after the chicks hatch, the adult birds flock together and begin their southern migration, usually in July. The parents abandon their young in the Arctic. A few weeks after the parents have left, the young flock together in a second wave of southern migrants. Spencer Fullerton Baird, a director of the Smithsonian Institution, organized several natural history expeditions across North America. For his efforts, Elliott Coues chose to name this bird in Baird's honor. |
I.D.: Sexes similar: black legs and bill; wings extend beyond the tail; faint, buff-brown breast speckling; large black patterns on the back and wing covers. Size: L 7-71/2 in. (18-19 cm). Range: common fall migrant in Jasper NP; uncommon migrant in Colorado; locally common fall migrant in the northern U.S. Rockies; rare spring migrant throughout the Rockies. Habitat: sandy beaches, grassy areas, mudflats and the edges of wetlands up to the alpine. Nesting: on the arctic tundra; on a dry hummock; in a slight depression lined with grass and leaves; young begin to fly 20 days after hatching. Feeding: gleans and picks aquatic invertebrates, especially larval mosquitoes and flies; also eats terrestrial beetles and grasshoppers; rarely probes. Voice: soft, rolling kriit kriit. Similar Species: Pectoral Sandpiper: sharply delineated pectoral markings. Least Sandpiper: light-colored legs; smaller. |
