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Alice Springs Waste Stabilisation Ponds

The Sanderling (Calidris alba) is a small wading bird that breeds in Siberia, then migrates south along the East-Asia–Australasian Flyway until it reaches the shores of Australia. They are usually seen along the southern coastline, having a preference for exposed sandy beaches that are subject to ocean swells. The hotspots for seeing the Sanderling include the coastlines on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia and at Discovery Bay in south-western Victoria.

Following photographs of a rare documented sighting of the Sanderling (Calidris alba) at the Alice Springs Sewage Ponds.

Sanderling (Calidris alba), Alice Springs NT © Dorothy Latimer
Sanderling (Calidris alba), Alice Springs NT © Dorothy Latimer
Sanderling (Calidris alba), Alice Springs NT © Dorothy Latimer
Sanderling (Calidris alba), Alice Springs NT © Dorothy Latimer
Sanderling (Calidris alba), Alice Springs NT © Dorothy Latimer
Sanderling (Calidris alba), Alice Springs NT © Dorothy Latimer
Sanderling (Calidris alba) and Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus leucocephalus), Alice Springs NT © Dorothy Latimer
Sanderling (Calidris alba) and Pied Stilt (Himantopus leucocephalus), Alice Springs NT © Dorothy Latimer

The photographs presented here were taken in the month of June.

Check out our Birds | Waders | Sanderling (Calidris alba)


  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Chordata
  • Subphylum: Vertebrata
  • Informal: Gnathostomata
  • Class: Aves
  • Order: Charadriiformes
  • Family: Scolopacidae
  • Subfamily: Calidrinae
  • Genus: Calidris
  • Subgenus: infrageneric Crocethia
  • Species: Calidris alba

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