Baird’s Sandpiper

The Baird’s Sandpiper is one of the most distinguishable species of migrating birds. These birds are anatomically adapted to travel long distances. They have long tapering wings that favor flying for long distances. These birds are one of those species that are found breeding in the Tundra region covering mainly Alaska and Siberia; however, they are more significantly known for their migratory phases.

About Baird’s Sandpipers

Baird’s Sandpipers’ binomial name is Calidris bairdii. The genus name Calidris comes from the ancient Greek words Kalidris or Skalidris, terms used by Aristotle to describe some gray-colored waterside birds. The species name bairdii as well as the English name, Baird’s Sandpiper however is a term that commemorates the Spencer Fullerton Baird.

In 1861, naturalist Elliott Coues described Baird’s Sandpiper. He named it in honor of his mentor Spencer Fullerton Baird, who was the second secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. and was a naturalist of the era himself. Baird’s Sandpiper was one of the last sandpipers to be described in North America.

These small shorebirds are probably the most elegant-looking small Sandpipers in the genus Calidris because of their anatomy. Their delicate buff and brown tones are warmer than the grayish-brown of many other Sandpipers, lending a softness to their plumage that makes them among the most recognizable species of the group. So, don’t you think these small shorebirds that can fly and cover the distance worth half of the Earth every single year are pretty incredible? Let’s get to know them more!

● Baird’s Sandpiper Photos, Color Pattern, Song
● Baird’s Sandpiper Size, Eating behavior, Habitat
● Baird’s Sandpiper Range and Migration, Nesting

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Baird’s Sandpiper Color Pattern

Most Sandpipers have dull tones that are somewhat gray and brown. But on the contrary, Baird’s Sandpipers have a color pattern that is more on the warm side. Unlike other sandpipers, Baird’s Sandpipers have a warm tone of buff and brown which makes them a very recognizable species in the family of Sandpipers. The adult birds have an above that is warm brown and black. The underbelly is a contrasting white and the breast is a warm brown with visible streaks of darker brown.

Description and Identification

Even though Baird’s Sandpipers are shorebirds, they prefer foraging in drier and more vegetated areas than other shorebirds which is why they are also nicknamed “Grasspipers”. These can be often found in Sod farms, grazed pastureland, harvested agricultural fields, rain puddles, and lake and river edges. They very rarely flock with other shorebirds but can be seen foraging near them on the drier areas with more vegetation.

These birds can be easily identified as slender medium-sized shorebirds with broad breasts, short legs, and very gently drooping black bills. They stand with a horizontal posture and their wingtips extend beyond their tails.

The male and female Baird’s Sandpipers are pretty much similar when it comes to their appearance. The juveniles are also very similar to the adults; however, they have scalier above than adults.

Similar species including White-rumped Sandpipers, Semi-palmate Sandpipers, Western Sandpipers, and Least Sandpipers can be told apart from Baird’s Sandpipers as the color tone of Baird’s Sandpipers is warmer than the rest and they forage in the drier areas of the habitat.

Baird’s Sandpiper Song

Male Baird’s Sandpipers sing to attract potential partners. The song is actually a series of vocalizations that sound like a song together. During display flights, the male birds give a series of vocalizations: a purring trill followed by a rising “twoowee” call that serves as a song. The song closes with a different trill that sounds more like chattering.

Along with the male birds’ display flight songs, there are also a series of different kinds of vocalizations that are used as calls; alarm calls and casual greet calls. Migrant birds give a very specific kind of low-pitched, harsh, grating  “kreep” call similar to Pectoral Sandpiper’s that probably translates to an alarm call. On the breeding ground, adults of both sexes also give this call as well as trills and a rising “laughing” call.

Baird’s Sandpiper Size

Baird’s Sandpipers are small shorebirds; probably smaller than almost all the other Sandpipers. However, these birds have very long wings comparing to the size of their body. The legs are thin and shorter than other shorebirds and the bill is fairly long for its size. These sandpipers are relatively between a Sparrow and a Robin in size. Larger than a Semi-Palmate Sandpiper and smaller than a Dunlin, these birds measure around 5.5-7.1 inches (14-18 cm) lengthwise and weigh around 0.9-2.2 ounces (27-63 g). They have a wingspan of 13.8-15.0 inches (35-38 cm).

Baird’s Sandpiper Behavior

Baird’s Sandpipers breed in the arctic region. The male birds reach the breeding grounds before the snow has completely melted. They arrive when the snow still covers the high arctic Tundra. As the snow starts to melt, they start singing, displaying, and claiming territories while performing flight-song displays. Usually, at the start of the breeding season, the males display very close to each other. As the snow melts away, the aggregations split up and the male birds start claiming territories that are the potential nesting sites.

The display practices of Baird’s Sandpipers are very elaborate. These birds display through flights and vocalizations that almost sound like singing. In-flight displays, the males fly steeply upward, often well over 100 feet high, and begin singing as they descend, alternating bouts of “butterfly” flight which basically consists of dramatically slow wing beats. They are also seen hovering on trembling wings, and coasting with wings held up over the back, in a V-shape. The males usually land in their last, dramatic flight mode, giving doubled “twoowee” calls that serve as a song.

Upon seeing a female, males display on the ground, rushing at the female with their bills down, feathers on the back raised, tail sometimes spread and cocked, giving trilling calls, then standing erect and raising a wing.

Males behave similarly to the ground displaying while chasing away other males from their claimed territories. The courtship and chasing away displays are so similar that it’s fairly difficult to tell them apart. The only way of distinguishing these two types of displays is observing if copulation takes place at the end or not.

Males display less frequently after the females have laid eggs which happens soon after the females arrive at the breeding grounds. However, sometimes even after the females have laid eggs multiple males may display for one nesting territory.

Baird’s Sandpiper Diet

Like other shorebirds, Baird’s Sandpipers have a main diet of crustaceans and arthropods like insects. They forage by walking very slowly and carefully, probing the surface, searching for prey visually, and pick them up from the ground with their bills. Sometimes, they also probe food in moist sand and mud. However, these birds have a tendency to forage away from water both during their nonbreeding and breeding phases and thus are nicknamed “grasspipers” along with the Buff-breasted Sandpipers and more frequently than Pectoral and Least Sandpipers. The main diet of Baird’s Sandpipers includes spiders, the larvae of crane flies, midges, flies, beetles, butterflies, and moths, and tiny pond crustaceans.

Baird’s Sandpiper Habitat

Baird’s Sandpipers avoid wet Tundra habitats that are preferred by most shorebirds, they rather prefer the dry Tundra and the slightly moist areas at most for nesting. Their preferable nesting area covers the areas of northwestern Greenland westward to easternmost Siberia.

Baird’s Sandpipers prefer dry slopes and barrens with alpine vegetation, often in rocky areas or along exposed ridges. In such environments where plants like arctic poppies, mountain avens, purple saxifrage, arctic white heather, blueberry, arctic willow, arctic bluegrass, and various rushes and grasses predominate, and lichens, mosses, and reindeer moss are abundant, these birds nest comfortably.

The migrating birds prefer land onto a variety of habitats between their long-distance travels. These habitats include edges of lakes and rivers, wet farm fields, pastures, short grass prairies, drying lake beds, and rice fields. In tropical areas, migrating Baird’s gravitate toward similar habitats but also sometimes use marshes, lagoons, tidal mudflats, beaches, and estuaries.

Baird’s Sandpipers forage more in mud than in water. These also often appear at the lakes and playas of the high elevations of the Rocky Mountains through the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico. These birds winter in the Southern American Continent, from low elevations to at least 15000 feet above sea level. In the Andes, they use bare plains, short-grass meadows, and grazed lakeshores, often in remote, cold, windy, rather desolate areas.

Range and Migration

The breeding range of Baird’s Sandpipers includes the high arctic Tundra regions: Northwestern Greenland, Alaska, and Easternmost Siberia. The wintering range includes Southern America and the migratory nonbreeding range includes Central America and Mexico. These birds are also found in the high elevation lakes of the Rocky Mountains and the Andes.

The migration of Baird’s Sandpipers is a very fascinating thing for ornithologists. These small shorebirds travel a long way every year for wintering. The migration of Baird’s Sandpipers starts from the arctic and ends at the tip of South America and the birds do it in record time. Most individuals leave migration staging grounds and travel some 3,700 miles or more directly to northern South America whereas some even continue as far as Tierra del Fuego. They tend to complete the entire 9,300-mile journey in as little as 5 weeks of time.

In late summer and early fall, large numbers of birds congregate on the Great Plains and in the central valleys of Mexico, then most apparently fly nonstop to South America.

Baird’s Sandpipers form flocks during migration and sometimes on wintering grounds. These are usually small groups but occasionally they can flock up to more than 100 individuals.

Baird’s Sandpiper Lifecycle

Baird’s Sandpipers spend their nesting season in the high arctic Tundra. The males reach the nesting grounds earlier than the females. During the breeding season, the plumage of these birds becomes more warm and vibrant in the color scheme. Pairs are formed quickly after the females reach the breeding grounds. The males already mark their territories and keep the nesting grounds ready before the pairing. Both the male and the female birds in the pairs build the nests. The female lays a clutch of eggs that together weigh more than her own weight. The egg-laying takes around 4 days. The eggs are Pale gray to brownish tan to reddish to deep olive in color with extensive dark blotching. After the eggs have been laid, both the parents incubate the eggs and tend the young. The incubation period is 19-22 days and the hatchlings are active and covered with down. Female birds often leave before the young have fledged, leaving behind the males for chick rearing. The young leave the nest after 16-20 days.

Nesting

Baird’s Sandpipers prefer dry Tundra habitats for nesting. At most, they can be observed nesting in slightly moist areas. They completely avoid the wet habitats, unlike most shorebirds. Nesting territories mostly are in dry slopes and barren lands with alpine vegetation. The nests are made on the ground in dry Tundra. These nests are placed next to rocks or under low vegetation.

Both males and females make a scrape with the feet and breast, then line it with nearby plant matter including birch, willow, and blueberry leaves, lichens, reindeer moss, mountain avens, and arctic white heather. However, some nests are unlined. The interior cup of the nest usually measures about 2.5 inches across and 2 inches deep.

Anatomy of a Baird’s Sandpiper

Baird’s Sandpipers are small shorebirds that have adapted to travel very long distances every year for wintering. These birds have a small body with thin short legs and a bill that is long in proportion to the body. The wings of the bird are however very long and carry the comparatively small body easily. The wings are also adapted to be slightly tapered to favor traveling to long distances. The head, neck, and tail are small.

Final Thoughts

Baird’s Sandpipers are a very resilient species. They are pretty adaptable and strong which is proved by their amazingly long migrations. Thus these birds have maintained their population well and come under the category of least concerned species. However, being the Tundra dwelling shorebirds, their life cycle hugely depends upon the accuracy of the weather cycle and sea levels. These birds are thus adversely affected by global warming and the consequences of it, rising sea levels, and climate change.

Ornithology

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