Calidris melanotos
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
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).
In the past widely seen as most closely related to sharp-tailed sandpiper, more recent genetic evidence has shown more complex relationships between the species of Calidris, with its closest genetic relatives probably the semipalmated sandpiper and western sandpiper species pair.
Cox's sandpiper, originally described as a new species Calidris paramelanotos, has proven to be a stereotyped hybrid between this species and the curlew sandpiper. This does not prove a particularly close relationship between these two species, as far more distantly related waders have produced hybrids.
The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus name kalidris or skalidris, is a term used by Aristotle for some... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 2 | Cochabamba | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 3 | Lima | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 4 | Asuncion | 🇵🇾 Paraguay | |
| 5 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 6 | Anchorage | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Caracas | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 9 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 10 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Pectoral Sandpiper sighting in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on a given day, based on 56 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 134th most-seen of the 187 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Pectoral Sandpiper in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pectoral Sandpiper sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
12th of 31
Of the 31 parks where we can rate Pectoral Sandpiper sightings, Pacific Rim National Park Reserve ranks 12th at under 5%. The best odds are in Isla del Coco National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%), Caroni Swamp (Trinidad and Tobago, about 10%) and Kluane National Park (Canada, about 10%).
Same genus: Calidris
The closest relatives of the Pectoral Sandpiper that you can see in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve (genus Calidris, Calidris Sandpipers) are Western Sandpiper (about 30%), Least Sandpiper (about 20%) and Sanderling (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pectoral Sandpiper is recorded against all the birds logged in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve (56 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
