Pectoral Sandpiper

Plate 294
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Pectoral Sandpiper
Calidris melanotos
LCIUCN Status
Guide
This is one of the 'grasspipers,' more likely to be seen in grassy marshes or wet fields than on wide-open mudflats. Its spring migration is mostly through the Great Plains, with smaller numbers east to the Atlantic; the species is found coast to coast in fall, but is still scarcer in the west. The name 'Pectoral' refers to the inflatable air sac on the male's chest, puffed out during his bizarre hooting flight display over the Arctic tundra.
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