# Pectoral Sandpiper

*Calidris melanotos*

Males possess a dilatable esophagus that they inflate like a balloon to produce a deep, resonant, hollow hooting sound to attract mates.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Charadriiformes › Scolopacidae › Calidris
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** decreasing
- **Biome:** wetland
- **Habitat:** Arctic tundra during breeding season; wet grasslands, mudflats, and freshwater wetlands during migration and wintering.
- **Diet:** Invertebrates, including insect larvae, beetles, spiders, small crustaceans, and snails.
- **Range:** Arctic North America, Siberia, South America, Australia
- **Size:** Length: 19-23 cm, Wingspan: 38-45 cm, Weight: 50-105 g
- **Lifespan:** 4 to 6 years in the wild
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Climate change altering Arctic breeding grounds, wetland drainage, and habitat loss along migration stopover corridors.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless. Observe quietly from a distance of at least 30 meters using binoculars to avoid disrupting their crucial foraging. If the bird stops feeding or flushes, you are too close.

## About

The pectoral sandpiper ( Calidris melanotos ) is a small, migratory wader that breeds in North America and Asia, wintering in South America and Oceania. It eats small invertebrates. Its nest, a hole scraped in the ground and with a thick lining, is deep enough to protect its four eggs from the cool breezes of its breeding grounds. The pectoral sandpiper is 21 cm (8.3 in) long, with a wingspan of 46 cm (18 in).

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/ffd33746-4b57-4214-a0c8-58db3773bd45
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/3865
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calidris melanotos
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/166627642/medium.jpg (Andrew Cannizzaro, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.