Bird
Western Sandpiper
Calidris mauri
A winter visitor to North Carolina, found in all 100 counties and 5 habitats.
- Here
- Winter and on migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 100 counties
- Habitats
- 5
Photograph not available yet.
At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Winter and on migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 100 counties
- Habitats
- 5
- Habitat models
- Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in North Carolina 5
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Depression ponds and limesinks
Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.
Other habitats in its models (19)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (14)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Winter.
- Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation Winter.
- Louisiana Beach Winter.
- South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Winter.
- South Florida Shell Hash Beach Winter.
- South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Winter.
- Southeast Florida Beach Winter.
- Southwest Florida Beach Winter.
- Texas Coastal Bend Beach Winter.
- Upper Texas Coast Beach Winter.
Land cover and other classes (5)
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Winter.
- Open Water (Aquaculture) Winter.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.
Seasons in North Carolina
- Migratory: does not nest here, in 52 of 100 counties.
- Winter: does not nest here, in 57 of 100 counties.
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in North Carolina, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Coastal dunes and beaches
Birds 112
- DovekieAlle alle
- Horned LarkEremophila alpestris
- Marbled GodwitLimosa fedoa
- Short-billed DowitcherLimnodromus griseus
- Wilson's PloverCharadrius wilsonia
- Great Black-backed GullLarus marinus
- Purple SandpiperCalidris maritima
- Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus caudacutus
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Seaside SparrowAmmodramus maritimus
- Wilson's WarblerWilsonia pusilla
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
Plants 132
- Maritime ThoroughwortEupatorium maritimum
- Beach Morning-gloryIpomoea imperati
- Railroad VineIpomoea brasiliensis
- Seabeach KnotweedPolygonum glaucum
- Northern BayberryMorella pensylvanica
- Seabeach AmaranthAmaranthus pumilus
- Northern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia polygonifolia
- Southern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia bombensis
- Mound-lily YuccaYucca gloriosa
- Northern Seabeach OrachAtriplex mucronata
- Dune Marsh-elderIva imbricata
- Dune BluecurlsTrichostema nesophilum
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Birds 120
- Black TernChlidonias niger
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- DovekieAlle alle
- Yellow-throated VireoVireo flavifrons
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Purple SandpiperCalidris maritima
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Thayer's GullLarus thayeri
- Wilson's WarblerWilsonia pusilla
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
- American OystercatcherHaematopus palliatus
Plants 23
- Slender FimbryFimbristylis autumnalis
- Purple SpikerushEleocharis atropurpurea
- Blue MistflowerConoclinium coelestinum
- BagpodSesbania vesicaria
- Tropical FlatsedgeCyperus surinamensis
- False DaisyEclipta prostrata
- Indian JointvetchAeschynomene indica
- Mid-Atlantic Flat-top GoldenrodEuthamia floribunda
- Bristly SedgeCarex comosa
- Shortbeak BeaksedgeRhynchospora nitens
- Southern Marsh YellowcressRorippa teres
- Sensitive FernOnoclea sensibilis
Ponds, lakes and their shores
Birds 90
- Black TernChlidonias niger
- BuffleheadBucephala albeola
- Common GoldeneyeBucephala clangula
- Common MerganserMergus merganser
- Long-tailed DuckClangula hyemalis
- Great Black-backed GullLarus marinus
- Purple SandpiperCalidris maritima
- Thayer's GullLarus thayeri
- Black SkimmerRynchops niger
- Black-bellied PloverPluvialis squatarola
- Greater ScaupAythya marila
- Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus
Plants 211
- Mudbank CrowngrassPaspalum dissectum
- Hooded ArrowheadSagittaria calycina
- Large-fruited ArrowheadSagittaria macrocarpa
- Pine-barren False FoxgloveAgalinis virgata
- Clasping-leaf PondweedPotamogeton perfoliatus
- Common BladderwortUtricularia macrorhiza
- Water TupeloNyssa aquatica
- Southern Marsh St. John's-wortTriadenum tubulosum
- Quillwort ArrowheadSagittaria isoetiformis
- Threadleaf ArrowheadSagittaria filiformis
- Narrowleaf Pond-lilyNuphar sagittifolia
- Swaying BulrushSchoenoplectus subterminalis
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Western Sandpiper
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)















































