Sanderling Plan - Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network

NONBREEDING (WINTERING) SITES
Although the Sanderling is the most widespread maritime shorebird in the Western
Hemisphere during the nonbreeding season, Sanderlings are fairly dispersed and numbers tend to
be small locally throughout most of their winter range (e.g., coastal Argentina; Blanco et al.
2006). Sanderlings winter along most beaches in the temperate and tropical Americas, spanning
over 100 o in latitude, from 50 o N on the Pacific Coast (southern British Colombia) and 43°N on
the Atlantic Coast (southern Maine) south to 50°S (southern Chile and southern Argentina)
(Myers et al. 1985, Castro and Myers 1987, Myers et al. 1990). However, most Sanderlings
winter in one of three regions: the Pacific coasts of Peru and northern Chile (where high densities
in areas not listed below reach 25–60 birds/km); the U.S. Pacific coast (Washington to southern
California); and the southeast Atlantic coast of Brazil (Morrison 1984, Myers et al. 1985,
Morrison and Ross 1989).
Atlantic and Gulf Coasts (United States)
The sites listed below were surveyed by the ISS between 1972–2005, and hosted several
thousand wintering Sanderlings during that period. Other ISS-surveyed sites with winter
estimates of >1,000 Sanderlings occur in Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,
North Carolina, and Virginia (See Table 5).
Florida coast: Sanibel Island reported several thousand Sanderlings in the 1990s, with winter
counts in the hundreds in the 1970s and ’80s (ISS data).
Massachusetts beaches: Five hundred to several thousand Sanderlings winter in South Beach,
Chatham, as reported in the 1990s (ISS data).
New Jersey beaches: Brigantine Beach (in the 1970s) and Wildwood (in the 2000s) each
reported >5,000 Sanderlings during winter months (ISS data).
North Carolina: Pea Island NWR (during1970s) and Clam Shoal/Bird Island (during 2000s)
hosted >1,000 Sanderlings during winters (ISS data).
WHSRN – Sanderling Conservation Plan, February 2010, v1.1 31