Sanderling Plan - Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network

Nunavut (near Nanisivik, Strathcona Sound; Godfrey 1986). In mainland Canada, Sanderlings
breed on Boothia and Melville Peninsulas, and Southampton Island, Nunavut; they rarely breed
in the Northwest Territories (Bathurst Peninsula, Franklin Bay; MacWhirter et al. 2002) (Figure
1).
Nonbreeding Range
In the summer, nonbreeding birds occur south of the breeding range (Figure 1).
During migration: Despite their broad winter distribution and locally modest numbers,
Sanderlings are quite aggregated during spring migration, relying on several major staging areas
to complete their lengthy migrations to the high arctic. Major North American staging areas
include the outer coastal sandy beaches of southern coastal Washington to central Oregon
(Myers et al. 1984b, 1984b), and (possibly) Prince William Sound, Alaska, on the Pacific Coast;
alkaline lakes in interior Saskatchewan, Canada (Beyersbergen and Duncan 2007, Beyersbergen
unpubl. data); and Delaware Bay—especially the lower New Jersey region (Dunne et al. 1982,
Clark et al. 1993) and the central coast of North Carolina (Dinsmore et al. 1998, Walters 1984)
on the Atlantic Coast. Smaller numbers of Sanderlings also consistently stop on migration
throughout the Texas Gulf coast and Florida.
Less is known about Sanderling distributions on migration in South America. However,
surveys indicate that Lagoa do Peixe, Brazil, is a major staging area in spring (Morrison and
Ross 1989), and that birds use the Pacific and Atlantic coastlines of South America during both
migrations.
During fall migration, Sanderlings are more dispersed in North America, using both
Pacific and Atlantic coastlines, to a lesser extent, the U.S. and Canadian interior. In the United
States, they occur in the thousands in New Jersey (Burger et al. 1977), Massachusetts, the Outer
Banks of North Carolina (Dinsmore et al. 1998, Myers 1988), Virginia, Texas, and Washington
(MacWhirter et al. 2002, and ISS data), and in Saskatchewan, Canada (Beyersbergen and
Duncan 2007, Beyersbergen 2009); they occur in the hundreds in many other locations.
Wintering grounds: The majority of Sanderlings that breed in North America winter in Central
and South America between the latitudes of the Tropics of Cancer (23.5 o N) and Capricorn
WHSRN – Sanderling Conservation Plan, February 2010, v1.1 15