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Baird’s SandpiperCalidris bairdii Wassenaar, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands, 29 August 2012 (Arnoud B van den Berg).

Alarm calls of Baird’s Sandpiper are rather distinctively long, unlike other Calidris, and they are used frequently outside the breeding season. Here is an alarm call from the Dutch bird in the photos above, a juvenile.

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Baird’s SandpiperCalidris bairdii Wassenaar, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands, 17:47, 29 August 2012 (Arnoud B van den Berg). Alarm call of a juvenile. 120829.AB.174700.21

Adult alarm calls. Adult alarms are basically the same as juvenile ones. In our examples they are lower-pitched, but we do not know if this is consistent. They can be delivered singly or doubled:

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Baird’s SandpiperCalidris bairdii Victoria Island, Nunavut, Canada, 21:03, 21 June 2016 (Magnus Robb). Single-note alarm calls of an adult. Background: Cackling Goose Branta hutchinsii. 160621.MR.210326.21

Baird’s SandpiperCalidris bairdii Victoria Island, Nunavut, Canada, 01:39, 23 June 2016 (Magnus Robb). Alarm calls of an adult, including many that are doubled. Background: Cackling Goose Branta hutchinsii, Sandhill Crane Antigone canadensis and Lapland Longspur Calcarius lapponicus. 160623.MR.013921.01

Adult flight (& alarm) calls. Note that adult flight calls seem to be more dry-sounding than in juveniles. Look at the very tidy structure of the calls with a clear separation between each element of the trill. Juvenile calls sound rather slurred by comparison.

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Baird’s SandpiperCalidris bairdii Victoria Island, Nunavut, Canada, 01:41, 23 June 2016 (Magnus Robb). Flight calls and alarm calls of an adult. Background: Cackling Goose Branta hutchinsiiand Lapland Longspur Calcarius lapponicus. 160623.MR.014100.10

A common source of confusion is to hear a fragment of song of a wader outside its breeding grounds – Magnus recorded a brief snatch (<2 sec) from a first year Baird’s in Poland in autumn. Sadly, the quality was too poor for inclusion here. Instead, here are some examples of fully developed songs from the breeding grounds in Canada.

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Baird’s SandpiperCalidris bairdii Victoria Island, Nunavut, Canada, 12:43, 23 June 2016 (Magnus Robb). Flight calls and song of an adult. Background: Lapland Longspur Calcarius lapponicus. 160623.MR.124316.01

Baird’s SandpiperCalidris bairdii Victoria Island, Nunavut, Canada, 03:00, 24 June 2016 (Magnus Robb). Song briefly, passing right over the microphones. Background: Cackling Goose Branta hutchinsii and Lapland Longspur Calcarius lapponicus. 160624.MR.030006.00

Flight calls of Baird’s Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper C ferruginea and Pectoral Sandpiper C melanotos used through the greater part of the year are rather similar. All three have modulated note or trill with the main energy between 2-3 kHz. The main differences concern the depth of the modulations, and the overall inflection of the call. Length may also be a useful pointer.

Calls of juvenile Baird’s Sandpiper, the type we are most likely to hear in Europe, are slightly shorter than in the other two species on average. They have relatively shallow modulations, sounding a little slurred, and there is little if any noticeable change in pitch during the course of the call.

 

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Baird’s Sandpiper Calidris bairdii Tacumshin, Wexford, Ireland, 10 September 2004 (Killian Mullarney). Four more relaxed calls shortly after taking off. 04.003.KM.13848.00

The most useful characteristic for Curlew Sandpiper flight calls is that the pitch is not even. The call rises subtly towards the end, but often there is also a slight drop right at the start of the call, immediately after first element of the trill. Curlew Sandpiper has slightly longer calls than Baird’s on average, with more of a musical, trilled sound: there is a greater degree of separation between the elements. At times it can actually sound a little reminiscent of Snow Bunting Plectrophenax nivalis flight calls.

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Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea Shannah, Ash Sharqiyah South, Oman, 22 April 2010 (Magnus Robb). Flight calls of a small flock during the spring migration. 100422.MR.075136.00

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Pectoral Sandpiper has calls that sound noticeably harsher than those of the other two species, which is due to having deeper and more irregular modulations. It also sounds a little low-pitched, although the main energy is concentrated at only a very slightly lower pitch than in the other two species. Perhaps the main deeper modulations contribute to this impression. Unlike Curlew Sandpiper it does not show any noticeable change in pitch during each call. Note that during the breeding season and for a very short time afterwards, males have flight calls that are very different, and do not resemble Baird’s Sandpiper at all.

So that’s our team effort. In the end what binds a team is the pleasure of the work and this has been a pleasure.

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