{"id":6737,"date":"2012-12-09T05:45:56","date_gmt":"2012-12-09T12:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=6737"},"modified":"2025-03-06T04:27:02","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T10:27:02","slug":"sanderlings-in-breeding-and-nonbreeding-plumage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/12\/09\/sanderlings-in-breeding-and-nonbreeding-plumage\/","title":{"rendered":"Sanderlings In Breeding And Nonbreeding Plumage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sanderlings<\/span><\/a>\u00a0look very different in appearance during breeding season and winter and novice birders might even think they are two different species.<\/p>\n

\"NonbreedingSanderling in nonbreeding plumage – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 200, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 300mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve heard people call nonbreeding Sanderlings “drab” and “plain” and while they might not be as colorful in nonbreeding plumage I personally wouldn’t call them drab or plain.<\/p>\n

I would, however; call them a challenge to expose properly and to get them in the frame because they are very active shorebirds when feeding.<\/p>\n

The Sanderling above is in nonbreeding plumage and it was racing down the beach hunting for prey when I photographed it.<\/p>\n

At first I wasn’t happy with the motion blur of the bird’s right foot but the more I looked at this image the more I liked the motion blur because it indicates movement.<\/p>\n

\"BreedingSanderling in breeding plumage – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/500, ISO 400, Nikkor 70-300mm at 300mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This image taken about a month later than the first image shows a Sanderling in breeding plumage, it was created during May which is about the time that the Sanderlings head north to their breeding grounds.<\/p>\n

Although the belly is still white and the legs and bill are still black the head, neck\u00a0and back of the bird is quite different.<\/p>\n

Rufous is the color I think of when seeing a Sanderling in breeding plumage because that color is evident in the head, neck and back of the bird.<\/p>\n

A side note; I often hear people say you must have a long (read expensive) lens to photograph birds and in some cases you do actually need a long lens to get frame filling images of birds however in some situations you can get those even with a shorter focal length.<\/p>\n

Both of the images above were taken with an inexpensive Nikkor 70-300mm VR lens and what made them possible is that these birds were habituated to human presence on the beach so they weren’t as nervous around me and I used very slow belly crawls to get close to them.<\/p>\n

By being low I appeared less threatening to them and at times the birds would come in so close I could not focus on them. Down & dirty can and does pay off.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Sanderling photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sanderlings look very different in appearance during breeding season and winter and novice birders might even think they are two different species. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,25,2000,287],"tags":[4004,4039,4030,991,5229,5132,4175,173,4077,4031,4148,4477,10940,4188,165],"class_list":["post-6737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-sanderlings","tag-adult","tag-beach","tag-breeding","tag-calidris-alba","tag-coast","tag-coastal","tag-fog","tag-gulf-coast","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-nonbreeding","tag-running","tag-sanderling","tag-sanderlings","tag-shoreline","tag-spring"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/sanderling-non-breeding-mia-mcpherson-9429.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1KF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3223,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/10\/05\/sanderlings\/","url_meta":{"origin":6737,"position":0},"title":"Sanderlings – Tiny Dynamos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 5, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Sanderlings can be a challenge to photograph because they move erratically at a very fast pace but creating images of them at their level is well worth the trouble of getting dirty and being exhausted by trying to follow the movements of these tiny dynamos.","rel":"","context":"In "Florida"","block_context":{"text":"Florida","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/florida\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sanderling feeding next to the Gulf at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/sanderling-nonbreeding-florida-mia-mcpherson-9485.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/sanderling-nonbreeding-florida-mia-mcpherson-9485.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/sanderling-nonbreeding-florida-mia-mcpherson-9485.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/sanderling-nonbreeding-florida-mia-mcpherson-9485.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5916,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/08\/17\/ruddy-turnstones-in-breeding-and-nonbreeding-plumage\/","url_meta":{"origin":6737,"position":1},"title":"Ruddy Turnstones In Breeding And Nonbreeding Plumage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Ruddy Turnstones in breeding and nonbreeding plumage can appear to be two different species to novice birders and bird photographers as can several other bird species.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ruddy Turnstone close up, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/ruddy-turnstone-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6256.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/ruddy-turnstone-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6256.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/ruddy-turnstone-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6256.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/ruddy-turnstone-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6256.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/dunlin-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-1203.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/dunlin-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-1203.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/dunlin-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-1203.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/dunlin-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-1203.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":121411,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/02\/18\/pied-billed-grebe-breeding-and-nonbreeding-plumage-comparison\/","url_meta":{"origin":6737,"position":3},"title":"Pied-billed Grebe – Breeding And Nonbreeding Plumage Comparison","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, I took a photo of a Pied-billed Grebe in breeding plumage at my local pond. Today, I decided to do a comparison with one in nonbreeding plumage.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"February Pied-billed Grebe in breeding plumage, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/pied-billed-grebe-adult-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-8404.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/pied-billed-grebe-adult-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-8404.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/pied-billed-grebe-adult-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-8404.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/pied-billed-grebe-adult-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-8404.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1155,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/10\/26\/rotation-adjustments\/","url_meta":{"origin":6737,"position":4},"title":"Rotation Adjustments – Sanderling At Dawn","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 26, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Proper rotation can make an image work. Improper rotation can cause the the person viewing to wonder what isn't right about an image.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sanderling at dawn, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/sanderling-mia-mcpherson-florida-3253-01.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/sanderling-mia-mcpherson-florida-3253-01.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/sanderling-mia-mcpherson-florida-3253-01.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/sanderling-mia-mcpherson-florida-3253-01.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107838,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/08\/winter-california-and-herring-gull-comparison-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":6737,"position":5},"title":"Winter California And American Herring Gull Comparison In Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Since I frequently get asked which is which I thought this would be a good time to do a winter California and American Herring Gull comparison and ID feature post.","rel":"","context":"In "American Herring Gulls"","block_context":{"text":"American Herring Gulls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gulls\/herring-gulls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Herring Gull - California Gull Comparison and ID Features, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/herring-california-gull-winter-adult-comparison-mia-mcpherson-0305.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/herring-california-gull-winter-adult-comparison-mia-mcpherson-0305.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/herring-california-gull-winter-adult-comparison-mia-mcpherson-0305.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/herring-california-gull-winter-adult-comparison-mia-mcpherson-0305.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}