Sanderling
Calidris alba (Pallas, 1764)
The sanderling (Calidris alba) is a bird in the family Scolopacidae and order Charadriiformes, also called Pond bird or Ruddy plover. It is a small, migratory carnivore classed as an aquatic predator, living in coastal habitats with a terrestrial foraging lifestyle.
Quick facts about the sanderling
Adults weigh 51.7 g, up to 55.6 g, have a wingspan of 35 cm, and its lifespan is 14.9 years, with values up to 18.6 years. It lays clutches of 4 eggs, incubated for 26.25 days, at 1.5 clutches per year, reaches sexual maturity at 2 years, and is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.
- Weight
- 51.7 g – 55.6 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 35 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 14.9 years – 18.6 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- coastalsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 26.3 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 24 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the sanderling?
Photos of the sanderling
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the sanderling live?
Not recorded
What is the sanderling?
The sanderling (Calidris alba) 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.
It is somewhat unlike other small sandpipers in appearance, in particular in lacking a hind toe, which has led to the suggestion that it should be placed into a monotypic genus Crocethia. More recent reviews indicate that the sanderling is a fairly typical "stint" or small sandpiper and should be retained along with the knots and other relatives in the genus Calidris.
This bird is similar in size to a dunlin, but stouter, with a thick bill. It shows a strong white wingbar in flight, and runs along the sandy beaches it prefers with a characteristic "bicycling" action of its legs, stopping frequently to pick small food items. It eats small crabs and other small invertebrates. In spring, birds migrating north from South America consume large numbers of horseshoe crab eggs in the Delaware Bay area.
In spring, the birds arrive on their High Arctic breeding grounds (see map) at the end of May or in early June, where they lay 3–4 eggs in a ground scrape from mid June to mid July. On the nesting grounds, these birds mainly eat insects and some plant material.
The sanderling was described by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas in 1764 and given the binomial name Trynga alba.
The sanderling is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
From the Wikipedia article “Sanderling” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sanderling&oldid=1380703909), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the sanderling endangered?
The sanderling is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the sanderling classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyScolopacidae
- genusCalidris
- SpeciesCalidris alba (Pallas, 1764)
Synonyms Arenaria grisea, Arenaria leucophsea carteri, Arenaria vulgaris, Calidris americana, Calidris arenaria, Calidris arenaria, Calidris leucophaea, Calidris leucophaea, Calidris mulleri, Calidris tringoides, Crocethia alba, Ereunetes albus, Tringa alba, Tringa arenaria
Other names and names in other languages (108)
- Pond birdEnglish
- Ruddy ploverEnglish
- DrietoonstrandloperAfrikaans
- مدروانArabic
- المدروانArabic
- دريجة بيضاءArabic
- mazaricu analayeruAsturian
- Üçbarmaq qumluqcaAzerbaijani
- ПясчанкаBelarusian
- Трипръст брегобегачBulgarian
- Sourouc'han gwennBreton
- territ de tres ditsCatalan
- Хӑйӑр кайӑкӗChuvash
- jespák písečnýCzech
- pibydd tywodWelsh
- pibydd y tywodWelsh
- Pibyddion y TywodWelsh
- sandløberDanish
- ΛευκοσκαλίδραGreek
- SablokalidroEsperanto
- sabla kalidroEsperanto
- ChichicuiloteSpanish
- Correlimos tridáctiloSpanish
- Playerito blancoSpanish
- Playerito BlanquitoSpanish
- Playero AreneroSpanish
- Playero blancoSpanish
- LeeterislaEstonian
- LeeterüdiEstonian
- leeterüdi e. leeterislaEstonian
- Txirri zuriBasque
- تلیله سفیدPersian
- pulmussirriFinnish
- SandgrælingurFaroese
- Bécasseau sanderlingFrench
- Gros Maringouin blancgcf
- luathránScottish Gaelic
- luatharan glasScottish Gaelic
- luatharanan-glasaScottish Gaelic
- Pilro bulebuleGalician
- Pilro tridáctiloGalician
- Coar gheinneeManx
- Leayrane glassManx
- Chululu'iGuarani
- Bécassine BlancheHaitian Creole
- HunakaiHawaiian
- חופית לבנהHebrew
- bijeli žalarCroatian
- fenyérfutóHungarian
- Ճերմակ ԱվազակտցարArmenian
- Kedidi putihIndonesian
- AqpaqsruayuuqInupiaq
- SanderlaIcelandic
- Piovanello tridattiloItalian
- ミユビシギJapanese
- ქვიშაქექიაGeorgian
- siorarsiooqKalaallisut
- ҚұмқұсKazakh
- 세가락도요Korean
- Pyber trethCornish
- SanderlengLuxembourgish
- smiltinukasLithuanian
- paprastasis smiltinukasLithuanian
- gaišais šņibītisLatvian
- AgolibeMalagasy
- бел свиркачMacedonian
- തിരക്കാടMalayalam
- Pispisella BajdaMaltese
- Гурвалж элсэгMongolian
- कवड्या टिलवाMarathi
- Burung Kedidi KapakMalay
- sandløperNorwegian Bokmål
- श्वेत जलरङ्कNepali
- drieteenstrandloperDutch
- sandløparNorwegian Nynorsk
- Snepi BlancoPapiamento
- Snepi BlankuPapiamento
- DmirouslétePicard
- piaskowiecPolish
- سینڈرلنگWestern Panjabi
- maçarico-brancoPortuguese
- pilrito-das-praiasPortuguese
- Rivarel sablunerRomansh
- nisiparRomanian
- VilgesvirošNorthern Sami
- riddočovžžošNorthern Sami
- pobrežník belavýSlovak
- peščenecSlovenian
- beli prodnikSlovenian
- gjelaci i rërësAlbanian
- Gjelëza me tri gishtaAlbanian
- Bela sprutkaSerbian
- Бела спруткаSerbian
- Бела спрутка - Beli prudnikSerbian
- sandlöpareSwedish
- Chokowe Tumbo-jeupeSwahili
- นกคอสั้นตีนไวThai
- Kiu vaveTongan
- ak kum kusuTurkish
- ak kum kuşuTurkish
- ЭлезинчиTuvinian
- ПесчанкаUkrainian
- Побережник білийUkrainian
- Dẽ cổ xámVietnamese
- DrietêenstrangeloperWest Flemish
- 三趾鹬Wu Chinese
- 三趾滨鹬Chinese
- 三趾濱鷸Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the sanderling
Other species in the same genus Calidris.
Ruff
Calidris pugnax
Dunlin
Calidris alpina
Red knot
Calidris canutus
Little stint
Calidris minuta
Temminck's stint
Calidris temminckii
Curlew sandpiper
Calidris ferruginea
CompareSanderling vs RuffSanderling vs DunlinSanderling vs Red knotSanderling vs Little stint
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is a sanderling?
The sanderling is a bird in the family Scolopacidae, order Charadriiformes.
How big is a sanderling?
Adult Sanderlings weigh 51.7 g, with values up to 55.6 g, and have a wingspan of 35 cm. This places it in the small size class.
What does a sanderling eat?
The sanderling is a carnivore whose diet category is aquatic predator.
Is the sanderling endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a sanderling live?
The sanderling's lifespan is 14.9 years, with values up to 18.6 years reported.
How many eggs does a sanderling lay?
A sanderling clutch has 4 eggs, incubated for 26.25 days, with 1.5 clutches per year.
Is the sanderling migratory?
Yes, the sanderling is migratory and lives in coastal habitats.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Sanderling (Calidris alba). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/sanderling
“Sanderling (Calidris alba).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/sanderling.
@misc{sanderling_2026,
title = {Sanderling (Calidris alba)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/sanderling},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}