Calidris acuminata
Status: Rare casual fall migrant statewide.
Documentation: Description: 12 Oct 1986 Octavia, Butler Co (Kovanda and Kovanda 1986).
Taxonomy: No subspecies are recognized (AviList 2025).
Fall: There are four records, all of juveniles:
8 Sep 1994 Sheridan Co (Brogie 1998)
18-19 Sep 2002, Lake Minatare, Scotts Bluff Co (Brogie 2004, cited as Lake Alice, error by original observer)
6 Oct 2010, Cottonwood WPA, Phelps Co (Brogie 2011)
12 Oct 1986 Butler Co (cited above)
Comments: This species is a very long-distance migrant, breeding in Siberia and wintering in Australia; it is unusual in that its juveniles undertake fall migration over a totally different route than adults (Mlodinow et al 2025). Juveniles migrate eastward from Siberia to Alaska, where they stage prior to the 6000+ mi flight across the Pacific to Australia (Mlodinow et al 2025); a few apparently migrate into the interior US, providing the rare North American fall records.
There are about seven records for the Great Plains (North Dakota, Nebraska, eastern Colorado, western Iowa, northern Texas), two spring records 13-18 May and five in fall 19 Sep 16 Nov (eBird.org, accessed Oct 2023). The seven Iowa records include the only western Iowa record and one of few in spring for interior North America, documented by B.J. Rose in Fremont Co 15 May 1994 (IOU 2023).
Abbreviations
IOU: Iowa Ornithologists’ Union
WPA: Waterfowl Production Area
Literature Cited
AviList Core Team, 2025. AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025. https://doi.org/10.2173/avilist.v2025.
Brogie, M.A. 1998. 1997 (Ninth) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 66: 147-159.
Brogie, M.A. 2004. 2003 (15th) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 72: 59-65.
Brogie, M.A. 2011. 2010 (22nd) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 79: 99-111.
IOU. 2023. Iowa Records Committee reports of Iowa rare bird records, accessed Oct 2023.
Kovanda, S., and J. Kovanda. 1986. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. NBR 54: 70.
Mlodinow, S.G., G.M. Kirwan, J. van Gils, and P. Wiersma. 2025. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Calidris acuminata), version 2.1. In Birds of the World (B. K. Keeney and M. G. Smith, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.shtsan.02.1.
Recommended Citation
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2025. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Calidris acuminata). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org
Birds of Nebraska – Online
Updated 24 Nov 2025