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Habitat
Typical breeding habitat of the Semipalmated Sandpiper
Breeding Range
Low and sub-arctic tundra, near water. Found nesting in river deltas in dry shrubby areas of Salix brachycarpaor Betula glandulosaand mixed sedges and grasses (Gratto et al. 1983); variably drained upland tundra with low vegetation near small ponds, lakes, and streams (Holmes and Pitelka 1968); moist or wet sedge-grass or heath tundra; sandy areas along rivers; and pond-dotted sand dunes (Godfrey 1986).
Spring And Fall Migration
Stage (flock in preparation for migration) in areas of shallow fresh or salt water and little vegetation, muddy intertidal zones, or along edges of lakes, usually on soft silt/clay mudflats (Boates and Smith 1989), or at junction of short-grass (Puccinellia phryganodes) marsh and tidal flats (Martini et al. 1980, Morrison 1984).
Winter Range
Generally areas of shallow lagoons with dead mangroves; also low tidal zone of mudflats (Spaans 1984, Swennen and Spaans 1985, Robert et al. 1989), on wet or dry mud (Ashmole 1970).
Gratto-Trevor, Cheri L. 1992. Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/006
