Calidris canutus

A small shorebird, the sandpiper nests in the damp tundra of the northern hemisphere. Two subspecies cross the French coast during stopover migration and wintering:
islandica
which breeds in Iceland and Greenland, and the nominate subspecies
canutus
which nests in northern Europe and Siberia. France is home to tens of thousands of wintering and migrating birds, which cross the English Channel and North Sea to feed on mudflats and coastal wetlands from Brittany to Charente-Maritime.

Shorebirds are captured on moonless nights using vertical nets set between their feeding sites on the mudflats they frequent during their migratory stopover. All shorebirds are fitted with GPS tags weighing between 3 and 10g, depending on the size of the species. These beacons transmit the birds’ geographical position and altitude live via the 4G network.

Migratory in France

Breeder in France

: Wintering in France