Sanderling

This Sanderling photo is from our trip to Sanibel Island, Florida, a couple of years ago. Sanderlings breed in the High Arctic. Although most winter along the coasts of Central and South America, these little sandpipers also winter along all three coasts of North America. Sanderlings are common migrants across the Great Plains.

Sanderlings are easily identified by their white and gray plumage along with their black fore-wings (visible even when the wings are folded). Sanderlings usually feed on sandy beaches, running from incoming waves and chasing after receding ones. They probe the wet sand in search of arthropods exposed by the waves.