SANDEELING 391 



Sanderling 

 Calidris leucophaea (Pallas) 



Other names — Beach Bird; Euddy Plover; Surf Snipe; Sanderling Sand- 

 piper; Calidris arenaria; Tringa arenaria. 



Description — Adults, both sexes, in late spring and summer: Top of head, 

 hind neck, back, scapulars, some wing coverts, and tertials, black, with broad 

 feather-maiginings of bright cinnamon brown, and more or less extensive 

 white tippings; head and neck otherwise cinnamon, flecked sharply with black; 

 ear region lighter due to minute white feather tippings; bill black; iris 

 "brown" (Audubon, 1842, V, p. 289); rump and middle upper tail coverts 

 black, with feather-margins of pale cinnamon; outer upper tail coverts white; 

 innermost pair of tail feathers longer than rest, their inner webs blackish 

 and outer webs blackish brown, marked irregularly with pale cinnamon; rest 

 of tail feathers grading from brown to very pale drab on outermost ones, and 

 all narrowly margined with white; shafts of innermost ones brown, of the 

 others, white; outer surface of closed wing: most of coverts like back, others 

 (left-over winter feathers) dull brown with blackish shafts; greater coverts 

 broadly tipped with white; primaries and their coverts blackish brown, paler 

 on inner webs, shafts chiefly white; secondaries chiefly white; margin of wing 

 scaled with pale brown and white; lining of wing and axillars, white; iinder 

 surface of flight feathers pale drab; chest and sides like lower surface of head, 

 bright cinnamon, marked sharply with blackish, these markings narrowest near 

 mid-line; rest of under surface white; feet black; toes only three, no hind toe 

 being present. Adults and immatures, both sexes, in late fall, winter and early 

 spring: Whole face region pure white; narrow area around eye flecked with 

 brownish; top of head, hind neck, back and scapulars, pale smoky gray, with 

 dark brown shafts and narrow feather-tippings of ashy or whitish; rump and 

 central upper tail coverts like back, but darker, more brownish in tone; outer 

 upper tail coverts, white; tail, outer surface of closed wing and flight feathers, 

 as in summer, but lacking any cinnamon; under surface entirely silky white. 

 Males: Total length 7.40-8.62 inches (188-219 mm.) (ten specimens); folded 

 wing 4.50-4.77 (114.2-121.0); bill along culmen 0.88-1.06 (22.-3-26.8); tarsus 

 0.94-1.04 (23.8-26.3) (ten specimens). Females: Total length 7.73-8.60 (196- 

 218) (ten specimens); folded wing 4.62-5.10 (117.3-129.3); bill along culmen 

 0.91-1.09 (23.0-27.6); tarsus 0.99-1.06 (25.1-27.0) (ten specimens); all from 

 California. Juvenile plumage: Crown, back and tertials, chiefly black, but with 

 feather-edgings of white and pale clay color, giving a spotted effect; forehead, 

 sides of head; hind neck, and sides of chest, buffy white, finely mottled with 

 dusky or brownish; indistinct streak from base of bill to and beneath eye, 

 dusky; feathers of rump and central upper tail coverts, brownish black with 

 broad edgings of cream and narrow blackish tips; outer upper tail coverts and 

 tail as in winter; wdng as in winter adults, but coverts coarsely edged with 

 pale clay color; under surface white, faintly tinged with buff across breast. 

 Natal plumage: Not known to us. 



Marks for field identification — Moderately small size (close to that of 

 Red-backed Sandpiper), conspicuous white bar across wing contrasting strongly 

 with blackish primaries; in late spring and summer: mixed black and cinnamon 

 back, and chiefly bright cinnamon throat, neck and breast; in winter: extremely 

 pale tone of coloration, glistening white under surface, and pale grayish back; 

 in the hand, lack of hind toe and sandpiper-like bill. Frequents sandy sea- 



