Where to see
Calidris alba
Padre Island National Seashore leads · 11 parks ranked by real sighting rates
Share of wildlife watchers reporting a Sanderling during a day in the park, from citizen-science data (GBIF)
| # | Park | Country | Sighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Padre Island National Seashore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 3 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Isla del Coco National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Rottnest Island | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Doñana National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 9 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 10 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Celestún Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
Padre Island National Seashore
In Padre Island National Seashore, United States, about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Sanderling sighting on a given day, the highest of the 11 parks where we can rate it, from GBIF citizen-science data.
Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve and more
After Padre Island National Seashore, the next-best odds of seeing a Sanderling are in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 40%), West Coast National Park (South Africa, about 40%) and Isla del Coco National Park (Costa Rica, about 30%). Outside North America, the best options are West Coast National Park in Africa (about 40%), Isla del Coco National Park in Central America (about 30%) and Rottnest Island in Oceania (about 20%).
It depends on the park
In the top parks, the best months are July to September in Padre Island National Seashore (about 90%), October in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (about 70%) and March–April and November in West Coast National Park (about 70%), as the share of wildlife watchers who report a Sanderling on a given day. Each park's Sanderling page has the full month-by-month chart.
