Sanderling

Description: 8" A robin-sized shorebird with prominent white wing stripe plumage varies by season, in summer rufous head and breast, in winter, rufous turns to gray, and birds are nearly all white, bill and legs black	Habitat: Breeds in high arctic tundra. In winter, along the coast on sandy beaches, tidal flats. Inland migrants found alone lake beaches, river sandbars. Very common worldwide. Seen running back and forth at ocean's edge as waves seem to chase small flocks.
Nesting: 4 olive eggs, spotted with brown, placed in a hollow on the ground lined with grasses and lichens	Range: breeds from high artic tundra to Alaska eastward, winters along coasts from British Columbia to southern South America
Voice: A sharp kip, conversational chatter while feeding	Diet: insects, spiders, vegetation in spring; on coast probe for marine invertebrates within 10 mm of surface. Probes with bill partly open.

Notes: Sanderlings eat small mollusks and crustaceans exposed by retreating waves, male and female occasionally incubate separate clutches, care separately for young, performs distraction display, some males return to previous breeding grounds; strong fidelity to wintering grounds.

When present in Oklahoma: seen during summer/winter migration, not native to Oklahoma