Calidris ferruginea
Status: Accidental in fall.
Documentation: Photograph: 19 Jul 1997 Funk WPA, Phelps Co (Brogie 1998).
Taxonomy: No subspecies are recognized (AviList 2025).
Record: The lone record is of an individual molting into basic plumage found and photographed by Joel Jorgensen, accompanied by Ross Silcock, and seen by many, at Funk WPA, Phelps Co 19-21 Jul 1997 (Silcock and Jorgensen 1997, Jorgensen and Silcock 1998).
Comments: Curlew Sandpiper is an Old-World species, breeding in the northern Palearctic and wintering in much of the Southern Hemisphere (Mlodinow and Medrano 2023). Most North American records are on the Atlantic Coast, but there are 1-2 per year in the Interior (Mlodinow and Medrano 2023). Surprisingly, most spring records along the Atlantic Coast are of adults; it is suggested these are fall vagrants to South America returning northward (Mlodinow and Medrano 2023).
There are about 19 records for the Great Plains, eight for 26 Apr-7 Jun, one for 30 Jun-1 Jul, and 10 for 12 Jul-14 Oct (eBird.org, accessed Oct 2023).
Images
Abbreviations
WPA: Waterfowl Production Area (Federal)
Literature Cited
AviList Core Team, 2025. AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025. https://doi.org/10.2173/avilist.v2025.
Brogie, M.A. 1999. 1998 (Tenth) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 67: 141-152.
Jorgensen, J.G., and W.R. Silcock. Nebraska’s first Curlew Sandpiper. NBR 66: 3.
Mlodinow, S.G. and F. Medrano. 2023. Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea), version 2.0. In Birds of the World (N. D. Sly, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.cursan.02.
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 1997. Summer Field Report. June-July 1997. NBR 65: 102-115.
Recommended Citation
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2025. Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org
Birds of Nebraska – Online
Updated 24 Nov 2025