Ynghylch

The pectoral sandpiper is largely a bird of the Americas. It nests on wet Arctic tundra in a vast swathe across Canada, Alaska and Siberia. It mostly winters in the grasslands and marshes of southern South America, though small numbers spend the winter in Australia and New Zealand. Since 2016, several breeding attempts have been documented in northeast Greenland, more than 1,000 miles from the nearest known populations in Canada and western Siberia. A pair may even have nested successfully in Scotland in 2004.

Male pectoral sandpipers are known to fly huge distances during the breeding season. Males will mate with multiple females, flying from site to site in search of mates. One male was tracked flying 13,045 km in a four-week period as he visited different nesting sites! Males perform a courtship display, flying around a female and using their inflatable throat sac to produce rhythmic hooting sounds.

As long distance migrants, pectoral sandpipers sometimes stray off course. They are the most commonly recorded North American vagrant bird in the UK. Most records in the UK involve birds on their autumn migration, with sightings peaking in September. There are often a smaller number of spring records each year, too. Look for them feeding on the muddy margins of wetlands.