Another member of the difficult-to-identify shorebird group known as "
peeps" is the
White-rumped Sandpiper. Weighing in at a mere 42 grams (a stack of 8 nickles), this small to medium-sized shorebird travels one of the longest migration routes of any American bird species. Nesting on mossy or grassy tundra near water in the northern tundra of the Arctic islands in Canada and Alaska they overwinter in southern South America. According to Cornell's website, "Southbound migrants fly over the Atlantic ocean from northeastern North America to South America, then gradually move southeast along the coast before turning inland go across the Amazon Basin, travel requiring about one month."
The IUCN Red List list their conservation status as "
Least Concern" due to their extremely large range and abundant populations, although their numbers have been declining slowly.
Their scientific name,
Calidris fuscicollis, means gray-colored water-side bird, dusky brown-necked.
The Surfbirds website has a very good piece on "peep" identification
here.
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