Hanno Müller Photography

Purple sandpiperMeerstrandläufer Calidris maritima

Family: Sandpipers and allies

A dark, dumpy sandpiper with a slightly down-curved bill, yellow-orange legs and slate-grey plumage that shows a purple gloss at close range. Purple sandpipers feed on wave-washed rocks and breakwaters, often with turnstones, and are remarkably tame. Breeding in the Arctic, small numbers spend the winter on the German coast, mainly on stony shores such as Helgoland.

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Hanno Müller Photography