Semipalmated sandpiper
| Semipalmated sandpiper | |
|---|---|
| Individual in pre-breeding plumage on a mudflat in Heislerville, Cumberland County, NJ, May 2022. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Scolopacidae |
| Genus: | Calidris |
| Species: | C. pusilla
|
| Binomial name | |
| Calidris pusilla (Linnaeus, 1766)
| |
Breeding Migration Nonbreeding
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| Synonyms | |
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The semipalmated sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) is a very small shorebird. The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific pusilla is Latin for "very small".
Within the genus Calidris the semipalmated sandpiper is most closely related to the western sandpiper (Calidris mauri). It was formerly sometimes separated with some other stints in either Ereunetes or Erolia, but these placements would leave the rest of Calidris a paraphyletic group.