Breeding Behavior and Taxonomic Relationships of the Curlew Sandpiper

IN 1962, a small population of Curlew Sandpipers (Calidris ferruginea) appeared near Barrow, Alaska, in early June and nesting occurred. This afforded a most unexpected opportunity for us to gather comparative data as part of our earlier and continuing studies of congeners of this species breeding commonly in northern Alaska. These include the Pectoral Sandpiper, C. melanotos (Pitelka, 1959), the White-rumped Sandpiper, C. fuscicollis (Holmes and Pitelka, 1962), and others on which studies are progressing, such as the Dunlin, C. alpina (Holmes, MS). Portenko (1959), in presenting his observations on Curlew Sandpipers in Siberia and in reviewing the Russian and other European literature, has shown that little is known concerning the breeding behavior of this species, particularly its displays. Accordingly, it is our objective here to report our observations of C. ferruginea, including all details useful for later comparisons with other species. Our taxonomy follows that of the B.O.U. Check-list (1952) and Kozlova (1962); for additional comments, see pp. 377-378.