Sanderling

Calidris alba

The sanderling is a small wading bird. It is a circumpolar Arctic breeder, being among the most extreme northern breeding birds in the world, nesting only on the coldest tundra, north of the 5°C July isotherm; in Europe, its southernmost breeding locality is Svalbard, where only a handful (5–15) pairs breed. It is a long-distance migrant, wintering south to South America, western and southern Europe, Africa, and Australia. It is highly gregarious in winter, sometimes forming large flocks on coastal mudflats or sandy beaches. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 4,277 times across 55 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in Europe ranged from 52°N in October to 64°N in September, about 1,300 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.