Sanderling ( Calidris alba, family: Scolopacidae)

Sanderling Kruger National Park birds The Sanderling (Latin name Calidris alba) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 281 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 364 also a picture of the Sanderling on page 369. The Sanderling belongs to the family of birds classified as Scolopacidae.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Sanderling is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Sanderling in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Sanderling : see above distribution map.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The Sanderling is a smallish bird but somewhat larger than a house sparrow. The height of the Sanderling is about 21 cms and its weight is about 55 gms

The male and female Sanderling have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is chestnut.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is white.
  • Back is black.
  • Legs are black.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Sanderling feeds on the ground mainly

Invertebrates

Aquatic life forms

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Sanderling takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).

The nesting habit of Sanderling is extra limital

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Sanderling are: wetlands

You will normally see the Sanderling in flocks.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Drietoonstrandloper

German ... Sanderling

Portuguese ... Pilrito-sanderlingo

French ... Bcasseau sanderling

Dutch ... Drieteenstrandloper

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 281

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za