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Buff-breasted sandpiper
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Scolopacidae
Genus:	Calidris
Species:	C. subruficollis
Binomial name
Calidris subruficollis (Vieillot, 1819)
Synonyms
Tryngites subruficollis

The buff-breasted sandpiper (Calidris subruficollis) is a small shorebird. The species name subruficollis is from Latin subrufus, "reddish" (from sub, "somewhat", and rufus, "rufous") and collis, "-necked/-throated" (from collum, "neck"). It is a calidrid sandpiper.

Description

This species is brown above and has a buff face and underparts in all plumages. It has a short bill and yellow legs. Males are larger than females. Juveniles resemble the adults but may be paler on the rear underparts.

Distribution and habitat

C. subruficollis breeds in the open arctic tundra of North America and is a very long-distance migrant, spending the non-breeding season mainly in South America, especially Argentina.

It migrates mainly through central North America and is uncommon on the coasts. It occurs as a regular wanderer in Western Europe and is not classed as rare in Great Britain or Ireland, where small flocks have occurred. Only the pectoral sandpiper is a more common American shorebird visitor to Europe.

This species nests as far north as Canada including Alaska on the ground, laying four eggs. The male has a display which includes raising the wings to display the white undersides, which is also given on migration, sometimes when no other buff-breasted sandpipers are present. Outside the breeding season, this bird is normally found in short-grass habitats such as airfields or golf courses, rather than near water.

These birds pick up food by sight, mainly eating insects and other invertebrates. The buff-breasted sandpipers are known to prey on Bombus polaris, a species of bumblebee found within the Arctic Circle. They will either eat the bees or feed them to their young. They are often very tame.

Buff-breasted sandpipers are suspected to have hybridized with the white-rumped or Baird's sandpiper.

In South Asia and Australia

This species has been sighted in South Asia on at least three occasions. It is believed that instead of going to Argentina, this bird might have been wind-blown from the Great Plains Flyway of North America and landed up in South Asia. In November 2011, this species was sighted near Kannur, Kerala in South India. The buff-breasted sandpiper has also been recorded in Australia on at least eight occasions. It was recorded again from Madayipara, Kannur in 2023.

In 1978, Phillips recorded the species from Sri Lanka, and after that, very few sightings were recorded. In 2001 a single bird was also recorded in Marievale, South Africa.

References

1. BirdLife International (2017). "Calidris subruficollis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T22693447A111804064. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22693447A111804064.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
2. Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 372, 391. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
3. Godfrey, W. Earl (1966). The Birds of Canada. Ottawa: National Museum of Canada. p. 161.
4. Sibley, David Allen (2000). The Sibley Guide to Birds. New York: Knopf. p. 192. ISBN 0-679-45122-6.
5. Attenborough, D. 1998. The Life of Birds. p.206 - 208. BBC. ISBN 0563-38792-0
6. ^ Statman-Weil, Zoe; Wojcik, Vicki. "The Arctic Bumblebee". www.fs.fed.us. USDA. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
7. Thomas, Jayan (26 November 2011). "North American Sandpiper in Kerala". migrantwatch.in.
8. "Decisions reached by BARC (The BirdLife Australia Rarities Committee)". Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2013-03-06.
9. Naha, Abdul Latheef (12 October 2023). "Rare bird from arctic tundra brings cheer to top birders". The Hindu.
10. Rajeevan, P. C.; Thomas, Jayan. "Buff-breasted Sandpiper Tryngites subruficollis from northern Kerala : a third record for India" (PDF). Indian Birds.

External links

• BirdLife species factsheet for Calidris subruficollis
• "Buff-breasted sandpiper media". Internet Bird Collection.
• Buff-breasted sandpiper photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
• Buff-breasted sandpiper Species Account – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Buff-breasted sandpiper - Tryngites subruficollis - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
• Audio recordings of Buff-breasted sandpiper on Xeno-canto.
• Tryngites subruficollis in Field Guide: Birds of the World on Flickr
• Buff-breasted sandpiper media from ARKive

• IUCN Red List vulnerable species
• Calidris
• Sandpipers
• Birds of the Arctic
• Native birds of Alaska
• Birds of Canada
• Birds of South America
• Birds described in 1819
• Taxa named by Louis Pierre Vieillot