The family, SCOLOPACIDAE, is made up of sixteen genera split between seven subfamilies. Subfamily CALIDRINAE comprises twenty-four species in just one genus, Calidris.

Family: SCOLOPACIDAE (Rafinesque 1815)

Subfamily: CALIDRINAE (Reichenbach 1849)

Genus: 

  • Calidris – Greek; kalidris or skalidris grey-coloured waterside birds mentioned by Aristotle. (Merrem 1804)
  • Europe; Red Knot, Sanderling, Little and Temminck’s Stint, Dunlin, Curlew, Purple and Broad-billed Sandpiper and Ruff.
  • Asia; Great and Red Knot, Sanderling, Red-necked, Little, Long-toed and Temminck’s Stint, Dunlin, Western, Baird’s, Pectoral, Sharp-tailed, Curlew, Purple, Rock, Buff-breasted, Spoon-billed and Broad-billed Sandpiper and Ruff.
  • Africa; Red Knot, Sanderling, Little and Temminck’s Stint, Dunlin, Curlew and Broad-billed Sandpiper and Ruff.
  • Australasia; Great and Red Knot, Sanderling, Red-necked, Long-toed Stint, Pectoral, Sharp-tailed, Curlew and Broad-billed Sandpiper.
  • North America; Surfbird, Red Knot, Sanderling, Dunlin, Semipalmated, Western, Least, White-rumped, Baird’s, Pectoral, Purple, Rock, Stilt and Buff-breasted Sandpiper.
  • Central and South America; Surfbird, Red Knot, Sanderling, Dunlin, Semipalmated, Western, Least, White-rumped, Baird’s, Pectoral, Stilt and Buff-breasted Sandpiper.
Twenty-four species within the subfamily CALIDRINAE all of which are in a single genus Calidris.

C. c. canutus (Linnaeus 1758)
C. c. piersmai (Tomkovich 2001)
C. c. rogersi (Mathews 1913)
C. c. roselaari (Tomkovich 1990)
C. c. rufa (Wilson 1813)
C. c. islandica (Linnaeus 1767)

C. a. alba (Pallas 1764)
C. a. rubida (Gmelin 1789)

C. p. quarta (Hartert 1920)
C. p. tschuktschorum (Portenko 1937)
C. p. ptilocnemis (Coues 1873)
C. p. couesi (Ridgway 1880)

C. a. arctica (Schiøler 1922)
C. a. schinzii (Brehm & Schilling 1822)
C. a. alpina (Linnaeus 1758)
C. a. centralis (Buturlin 1932)
C. a. sakhalina (Vieillot 1816)
C. a. actites (Nechaev & Tomkovich 1988)
C. a. kistchinski (Tomkovich 1986)
C. a. arcticola (Todd 1953)
C. a. pacifica (Coues 1861)
C. a. hudsonia (Todd 1953)

C. f. falcinellus (Pontoppidan 1763)
C. f. sibirica (Dresser 1876)

  • Surfbird used to be placed in a monotypic genus Aphriza (Audubon 1839).
  • Spoon-billed Sandpiper used to be placed in a monotypic genus Eurynorhynchus (Nilsson 1821).
  • Broad-billed Sandpiper used to be placed in a monotypic genus Limicola (Koch 1816).
  • Stilt Sandpiper used to be placed in a monotypic genus Micropalama (Baird 1858).
  • Buff-breasted Sandpiper used to be placed in a monotypic genus Tryngites (Cabanis 1857).
  • Ruff used to be placed in a monotypic genus Philomachus (Merrem 1804),
  • Calidris pugnax rhyphaecus (Potopova 1990)
  • BirdLife International: IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 26/03/2020
  • del Hoyo, Josep, Andrew Elliot & Jordi Sargatal: Handbook of the Birds of the World – Vol. 3 (1996)
  • Hayman, Peter, John Marchant & Tony Prater: Shorebirds – An identification guide to the waders of the world (1986)
  • Jobling, James A.: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names (2010)
  • Seebohm, Henry: The Geographical Distribution of the Family Charadriidae, or, The Plovers, Sandpipers, Snipes, and Their Allies (1888)

Click on an image for more information about the individual species.

Sandpipers
BAIRD’S SANDPIPER – Least Concern
Sandpipers
BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER – Least Concern
Sandpipers
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER – Near Threatened
Sandpipers
CURLEW SANDPIPER – Near Threatened
Sandpipers
DUNLIN – Least Concern
Sandpipers
GREAT KNOT – Endangered
Sandpipers
LEAST SANDPIPER – Least Concern
Sandpipers
LITTLE STINT– Least Concern
Sandpipers
LONG-TOED STINT – Least Concern
Sandpipers
PECTORAL SANDPIPER – Least Concern
Sandpipers
PURPLE SANDPIPER – Least Concern
Sandpipers
RED KNOT – Near Threatened
Sandpipers
RED-NECKED STINT – Near Threatened
Sandpipers
ROCK SANDPIPER – Least Concern
Sandpipers
RUFF– Least Concern
Sandpipers
SANDERLING – Least Concern
Sandpiper
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER – Near Threatened
Sandpipers
SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER – Least Concern
Sandpipers
SPOON-BILLED SANDPIPER – Critically Endangered

Sandpipers
STILT SANDPIPER – Least Concern
SURFBIRD – Least Concern
TEMMINCK’S STINT – Least Concern
Sandpipers
WESTERN SANDPIPER – Least Concern
Sandpipers
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER – Least Concern