Sandpipers · Shorebirds
Purple Sandpiper
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Calidris maritima
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Voice
Call
How to recognize it
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20–22 cm long
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Plain dark upperparts and pale belly in winter
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Short orange legs in winter; walks among seaweed on rocky shores
About the species
Dark brown above with a faint purplish sheen, the Purple Sandpiper is pale underneath, with a gray-smudged breast. Its short yellow legs show below its body, and the dark bill has a yellow base. In winter, its plumage turns duller and more evenly brown-gray, while the underside stays lighter.
Along the shore, it picks food from rocks and exposed seaweed rather than probing into the ground, stepping carefully across slick surfaces. Its usual call is a soft, one-note "kyut". When disturbed, a small flock rises calling, skims low over the water in a shallow arc, then settles back on the rocks.
It breeds on Arctic tundra and rocky slopes. Outside the breeding season, it feeds along rocky Atlantic shores, often on stones exposed by the tide and coated in seaweed. It picks mollusks, small crustaceans, worms and flies from the surface, with some plant matter too. Northern populations move south for winter, while some remain on coasts that stay ice-free.
Where to find
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In winter, look for Purple Sandpipers in small flocks on wet, brown-seaweed-covered boulders along ice-free rocky Atlantic shores, picking up food.
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At low tide, watch for slow steps across the exposed seabed as food is picked from the surface among seaweed, without probing the ground with the bill.
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Small flocks often gather around dams and breakwaters; if disturbed, they make a low half-circle over the water and return to the rocks.
