Calidris virgata
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The surfbird (Calidris virgata) is a small stocky wader in the family Scolopacidae. It was once considered to be allied to the turnstones, and placed in the monotypic genus Aphriza, but is now placed in the genus Calidris.
This bird has a short dark bill, yellow legs and a black band at the end of the white rump. In breeding plumage, it has dark streaks on the brownish head and breast with dark spots on its white underparts; the upperparts are dark with flax or sometimes rust colouring on the wings. Birds in winter plumage and immature birds are mainly grey on the upperparts and breast and white on the underparts with streaking.
Their breeding habitat is rocky tundra areas in Alaska and the Yukon. The female lays 4 eggs in a depression on the ground lined with vegetation. Both parents look after the young birds, who feed themselves. These birds migrate to the Pacific coasts of North and South America, from southern Alaska to Tierra del Fuego.
On the nesting grounds, these birds mainly eat insects and some seeds. At other times of year, they eat mollusks and crustaceans found along the surf line on rocky coasts and are usually found in small flocks, often with turnstones.
The song is a whistled tee tee tee. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Ostional Wildlife Refuge | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Las Baulas Marine National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Denali National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Galápagos Islands | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 11 | Parque Natural Metropolitano | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 12 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Anchorage | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 4 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Lima | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 7 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Surfbird sighting in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on a given day, based on 128 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 98th most-seen of the 187 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December and January
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Surfbird in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in April–July and September, the lowest months. Those are among Pacific Rim National Park Reserve's wettest months, with about 440 mm of rain a month against 40 mm in July.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Surfbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 12 parks where we can rate Surfbird sightings, Pacific Rim National Park Reserve ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Channel Islands National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same genus: Calidris
The closest relatives of the Surfbird 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 Surfbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve (128 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.
