Figures 229, 230 (above, below). The Sharp-tailed Sandpiper shows a rufous crown, bold supercilium, and buffy breast with fine streaks. Small numbers occur annually in California, typically in late fall and mostly along the northern coast. Some also reach the southern coast, including this first-fall bird, present from 9 November to 6 December 1999 at Bolsa Chica in Orange County (N. Am. Birds 54:105). It was photographed on an unspecified date (Brian E. Small) and sketched on 14 November (Andrew Birch).

 

 

 

 

 

 

SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER Calidris acuminata (Horsfield, 1821)

Accepted: 28 (74%)	Treated in Appendix H: no
Not accepted: 10	CBRC review: records from 1966 through 19801
Not submitted/reviewed: 20	Large color images: see Figures

This sandpiper breeds along the arctic coast of central and eastern Siberia. The wintering grounds lie in the South Pacific, from New Guinea south to Australia and New Zealand, and migrants occur regularly in Hawaii. The species migrates regularly through western Alaska (east to Kodiak) in fall, but only casually in spring. Mlodinow (2001) described this bird as a rare, regular fall migrant along the northern Pacific coast that becomes progressively scarcer south through California. Small numbers are recorded annually, or nearly so, in the Yukon and in southern Alberta. Otherwise, the species is a casual or accidental fall and spring vagrant across North America and Europe.

California’s first Sharp-tailed Sandpiper was collected on 27 November 1870 in Olema, Marin County (Ball 1930, YPM 1170). The second, a first-fall male, was collected on 15 [not 16] September 1921 at Mission Bay in San Diego County (Anthony 1922, SDNHM 2255). The Committee reviewed this species’ records until 1980, by which time the state clearly averaged more than four per year (many reports were never reviewed). Adults are extremely rare in fall. The earliest was found on 21 July 1988 in Goleta, Santa Barbara County (Lehman 1994), and the latest was present 29 September–8 October 1992 at San Joaquin Marsh, Orange County (Hamilton and Willick 1996). Most California records involve first-fall birds in October and November, but birds of this age have appeared as early as 2 September (in 1996 on Southeast Farallon Island fide P. Pyle) and 4 September (in 2001 at the Mad River estuary in Humboldt County, NAB 56:102, age fide M. M. Rogers, and in 2003 at Abbotts Lagoon in Marin County, NAB 58:138). The latest fall records, all involving first-year individuals, come from Alviso in Santa Clara County: 17 November 1985–5 January 1986 (AB 40:326), 16–27 December 2001 (NAB 56:219), and 7–18 December 2005 (NAB 60:280). Each was seen on the San Jose Christmas Bird Count, the only California count ever to have tallied this species! The only Sharp-tailed Sandpiper known to have wintered in the state was present from 19 January to 2 March 1980 at Pt. Mugu in Ventura County.

The five spring records involve birds in alternate plumage: Lancaster, Los Angeles County, 5–9 May 1982; Kern NWR, Kern County, 8–10 April 1984 (Small 1994); Pescadero, San Mateo County, 14–15 May 1994 (FN 48:338); Bolsa Chica, Orange County, 16–18 May 2000 (NAB 54:327); and near the mouth of the Whitewater River, Riverside County, 19–22 May 2005 (NAB 59:494, 495; the first record of this species from the Salton Sea).

Many Sharp-tailed Sandpipers are found in flocks of Pectoral Sandpipers, and these species should be identified with care. Most current field guides cover the issues well, as do early identification papers by Webb and Conry (1979) and Britton (1980).

¹On the review list 1972–1980