Semipalmated Sandpiper

1/60s at f14.0, ISO:800, Canon Mark IV 1D w/800mm, 1.4x converter


The Semipalmated Sandpiper is a very small shorebird. Their breeding habitat is the southern tundra in Canada and Alaska near water. They nest on the ground. The male makes several shallow scrapes, the female chooses one and adds grass and other material to line the nest. The female lays 4 eggs; the male assists in incubation. After a few days, the female leaves the young with the male; the young feed themselves. They are long distance migrants and winter in coastal South America with some going to the southern United States. They migrate in flocks, which can number in the hundreds of thousands, particularly in favored feeding locations such as the Bay of Fundy and Delaware Bay. This species is a rare but regular vagrant to Western Europe. These birds forage on mudflats, picking up food by sight and feel (bill). They mainly eat aquatic insects and crustaceans.
Cambridge Bay, Canada
 
07/01/2011