Sharp-tailed Sandpiper - Calidris acuminata

	Classification  Kingdom: Animalia  Phylum: Chordata  Class: Aves  Order: Charadriiformes  Family: Scolopacidae  Genus:   Calidris
ICUN Redlist - World Status: Least Concern

Description

The sharp-tailed sandpiper is about eight inches in length. Its back, wings, and tail are rusty-brown, black, and white. It has a light cream to tan lower chest and belly and a reddish-brown cap. Its bill is sharp, long, and black. It has long, white to gray legs and a sharp tail.

Range

The sharp-tailed sandpiper breeds on the Siberian tundra and winters in Australia and New Zealand. Migrating birds appear in Alaska and in small numbers along the West Coast in the fall and, less often, inland and on the East Coast.

Habitat

The sharp-tailed sandpiper can be found in grassy areas of coastal marshes and on tidal flats.

Diet

The sharp-tailed sandpiper eats mosquito larvae. It also eats mollusks and crustaceans.

Life Cycle

The male sharp-tailed sandpiper mates with more than one female. The female build a nest of grass on the tundra. She lays an average of four eggs. The chicks hatch in 19-23 days. They leave the nest after a day or so and begin to feed themselves. They fledge when they are 18-21 days old.

Behavior

A Eurasian species, the sharp-tailed  sandpiper appears in North America mainly after the end of the nesting season. Most of the birds recorded in North America are the young of the year.