Curlew Sandpiper ( Calidris ferruginea, family: Scolopacidae)

curlew sand piper kruger national park birds The Curlew Sandpiper (Latin name Calidris ferruginea) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 272 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 373 also a picture of the Curlew Sandpiper on page 369. The Curlew Sandpiper 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 Curlew Sandpiper is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

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

The Curlew Sandpiper.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The Curlew Sandpiper is a smallish bird but somewhat larger than a house sparrow. The height of the Curlew Sandpiper is about 20 cms and its weight is about 55 gms

You will find that the male Curlew Sandpiper plumage and colours are different to that of the female Curlew Sandpiper

  • Head is red.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is grey.
  • Throat is white, grey.
  • Back is grey.
  • Legs are grey.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Curlew Sandpiper feeds on the ground mainly

Seeds

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

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

The nesting habit of Curlew Sandpiper is extra limital

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Curlew Sandpiper are: wetlands and riverine areas

You can see Curlew Sandpiper in flocks. The bird will often also be seen singly.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Krombekstrandloper

German ... Sichelstrandlufer

Portuguese ... Pilrito-de-bico-comprido

French ... Bcasseau cocorli

Dutch ... Krombekstrandloper

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

Robert's 7th edition number ... 272

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