Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos): Photos, Range and Facts

Overview

The pectoral sandpiper (Calidris melanotos), often abbreviated pec, is a small, migratory wader that breeds in arctic regions of North America and Asia, wintering in South America and Oceania. It eats small invertebrates. Its nest, a hole scraped in the ground and with a thick lining, is deep enough to protect its four eggs from the cool breezes of its breeding grounds. The pectoral sandpiper is 19–23 cm (7.5–9.1 in) long, with a wingspan of 38–46 cm (15–18 in).

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Breeds wet tundra from Yamal Peninsula eastward to Chukotskiy Peninsula (northwestern to eastern Siberia), including New Siberian and Wrangel islands, also western and northern Alaska eastward through northeastern Canada, including Arctic islands; winters wet grassland and wetland edge mainly to Peru, Bolivia, and southern Brazil southward to Tierra del Fuego; prone to extreme vagrancy.

Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.

Pectoral Sandpiper

Overview

Range and habitat

Continents

Countries

Sources and further reading