semipalmated sandpiper

noun

1. a common North American sandpiper, Calidris pusillus, having semipalmate feet.

Word History and Origins

Origin of semipalmated sandpiper¹

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10

Example Sentences

Conservationists welcomed the decision, saying that it would improve prospects for the knot’s survival and for other shorebirds including the semipalmated sandpiper and the ruddy turnstone, whose numbers have also suffered from the crab harvest over the last 20 years.

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The semipalmated sandpiper, which is a beautiful bird, they will be coming down from the tundra in Canada where they breed, through Quebec, and along the coast.

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Some species, notably the Semipalmated Sandpiper, Semipalmated Plover, and Black Tern, oversummer as nonbreeders in such large numbers that it is obvious that a significant fraction of the total population of the species does not breed in any one year.

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And the semipalmated sandpiper, small enough to fit into a teacup, migrates between South America and the Arctic, “through gales and hurricanes, over mountains and ocean.”

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This is the Semipalmated Sandpiper, for semipalmated means "half-webbed," as its toes are.

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