#0599 · 🐦 birds

Sanderling

🇳🇱 Drieteenstrandloper ·Calidris alba

LCleast concern 🐦 Birds 📍 in the Netherlands

8 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

what is it?

The sanderling ( Calidris alba ) is a small wading bird. The name derives from Old English sand-yrðling , "sand-ploughman". The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris , a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific alba is Latin for "white".

base stats

NL sightings 914iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 87,865iNaturalist observations
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

Spotted 914 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
87,865 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named by Peter Simon Pallas in 1764 (262 years ago).

fact sheet

English: Sanderling
Nederlands: Drieteenstrandloper
scientific name: Calidris alba
class: Aves
order: Charadriiformes
family: Scolopacidae
IUCN Red List: LC · least concern
sightings in NL: 914
sightings in Europe: 13,970
sightings worldwide: 87,865
GBIF records in NL: 59,926
weight: —
length: —
lifespan: —
named: 1764 by Peter Simon Pallas

IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.

relatives· Scolopacidae

Sources: iNaturalist taxon 3849, Wikidata Q58958, GBIF 2481748, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.