Sanderling

The sanderling is a small, plump sandpiper, 18–20cm long and 40–100g, stouter than a dunlin with a thicker bill. In winter it is very pale, almost white apart from a dark shoulder patch, the source of its scientific name alba, white. In breeding plumage the face and throat turn brick-red, and juveniles are spangled black and white. Unusually among small sandpipers it has no hind toe, which helps identify it at close range. It shows a strong white wing bar in flight (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is one of the most northerly breeding birds in the world, nesting only on the coldest High Arctic tundra and laying three or four eggs in a ground scrape. It is a long-distance migrant and highly gregarious in winter, sometimes in large flocks on sandy beaches and mudflats. It runs along the tideline with a rapid, bicycling action of the legs, stopping often to pick up small crabs and other invertebrates. In India it is a winter migrant with a restricted range. SoIB 2023 finds a current fall of about 5% a year and rates it a High conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).