Calidris bairdii
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
Baird's sandpiper (Calidris bairdii) is a small shorebird. It is among those Calidris species which were formerly sometimes included in the genus Erolia, which was subsumed into the genus Calidris in 1973. The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The English name and specific bairdii commemorate Spencer Fullerton Baird, 19th-century naturalist and assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
Adults have black legs and a short, straight, thin dark bill. They are dark brown on top and mainly white underneath with a black patch on the rump. The head and breast are light brown with dark streaks. In winter plumage, this species is paler brownish grey above. This bird can be difficult to distinguish from other similar tiny shorebirds; these are known collectively as "peeps" or "stints".
One of the best identification features is the long wings, which extend beyond the tail when the bird is on the ground. Only the white-rumped sandpiper also shows this, and that bird can be distinguished by its namesake white rump patch.
Baird's sandpiper breeds in the northern tundra... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cochabamba | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 2 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | Lima | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 4 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 5 | Montevideo | 🇺🇾 Uruguay | |
| 6 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Baird's Sandpiper sighting in Padre Island National Seashore on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 126th most-seen of the 171 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Baird's Sandpiper in Padre Island National Seashore on a given day, against under 5% in May to March, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Baird's 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.
9th of 26
Of the 26 parks where we can rate Baird's Sandpiper sightings, Padre Island National Seashore ranks 9th at under 5%. The best odds are in Lauca National Park (Chile, about 40%), Península Valdés (Argentina, about 20%) and Isla del Coco National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%).
Same genus: Calidris
The closest relatives of the Baird's Sandpiper that you can see in Padre Island National Seashore (genus Calidris, Calidris Sandpipers) are Sanderling (about 80%), Least Sandpiper (about 20%) and Dunlin (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Baird's Sandpiper is recorded against all the birds logged in Padre Island National Seashore (16 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.
