Purple Sandpiper

Overview

Purple Sandpiper: Medium sandpiper, upperparts are scaled gray-brown, crown is dark, and white underparts are streaked. Bill is dark with a yellow base and slightly decurved. Wings have large white stripes visible in flight; tail has dark central stripe above and is white below.

Range and Habitat

Purple Sandpiper: Breeds on rocky tundra in far northern Canada, winters on rocky shorelines along the entire Atlantic Coast.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Purple Sandpiper has the northernmost winter range of any shorebird.
They are among the tamest of shorebirds and are very approachable.
A group of sandpipers has many collective nouns, including a "bind", "contradiction", "fling", "hill", and "time-step" of sandpipers.

The Purple Sandpiper has a large range, estimated globally at 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 square kilometers. Native to Europe and North America, this bird prefers grassland, wetland, and marine ecosystems as well as rocky areas. The global population of this bird is estimated at 170,000 to 220,000 individuals and does not show signs of decline that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status of the Purple Sandpiper is Least Concern.