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To the Beauty of Birds

The Purple Sandpiper (Calidris maritima) is a small shorebird.

Adults have short yellow legs and a medium thin dark bill with a yellow base. The body is dark on top with a slight purplish gloss and mainly white underneath. The breast is smeared with grey and the rump is black. They measure 7.9–8.7 inches in length and 17–18 inches across the wings, and weight is from 1.8–3.7 oz.

Their breeding habitat is the northern tundra on Arctic islands in Canada and coastal areas in Greenland and northwestern Europe. They nest on the ground either elevated on rocks or in lower damp location. The males make several scrapes; the female chooses one and lays 3 or 4 eggs. The male takes the major responsibility for incubation and tends the chicks. The young feed themselves.

They are fairly gregarious, forming small flocks, often with ruddy turnstones. This species is tame and approachable.

These birds forage on rocky coasts, picking up food by sight. They mainly eat arthropods and mollusks, also some plant material.

Purple Sandpiper

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