Calidris alba Photo Bill Chitty ©
This small sandpiper is often seen on Florida’s beaches during the winter. Sanderlings are usually found in groups, scurrying along the edges of advancing and receding waves on Atlantic beaches.
Sanderlings probe the sand with their short stout bills searching for mole crabs and other crustaceans just below the surface. As the waves advance and recede, the crustaceans move up and down in the sand, feeding on detritus carried in the water. The birds have to move fast, feeding along the edge of the wave, trying to capture the prey before it burrows out of reach.
Sanderlings are migratory, in spring they travel thousands of miles to breed in the Canadian Arctic, then return to winter on Florida’s beaches in the fall.
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