Curlew Sandpiper

How to find it

Work through flocks of Costa Rica's usual three small peeps (Least, Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers) one bird at a time, because a Curlew Sandpiper can hide among them. The 1984 bird was netted inside a flock of Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers. Look for longer legs, a longer neck and a longer, more smoothly curved bill. Watch for the tilted rear end while it feeds, since the white rump shows from far away and helps pick it out of a flock. Listen too for a softer, rippling call than a Dunlin's.

How to recognise it

Breeding adults are mostly rich reddish brown. Juveniles and winter adults are gray above and whitish below. In non-breeding plumage it is pale ash gray above and clean white below, with a faint pale eyebrow stripe above the eye.

The clearest marks, in plain terms:

A long, dark, strongly downcurved bill, longer and thinner than a Dunlin's, with a smoother curve.

Slim, dark legs, longer than a Dunlin's.

A longer neck than a Dunlin, and a bird a little larger overall.

A pure white rump in flight, at every age and season.

It is also darker and more slender than a Red Knot. When it feeds, the long legs tilt the rear end up, and this shows the white rump from far away.

What it sounds like

Recording: Yves Bas, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

It feeds in shallow water, probing the mud with its bill and sometimes picking items off the surface. It often wades a bit deeper than Dunlins when the two feed together, and it hunts by sight along muddy shores and coastal marshes.

It is very sociable and often joins flocks of other small sandpipers, especially Dunlin. That is useful to know when scanning flocks in Costa Rica, because a stray is most likely to be found inside one.

Where it lives

Across its range it uses intertidal mudflats of estuaries, lagoons and mangroves. It also uses beaches, rocky shores and the edges of lakes.

In Costa Rica the known records come from near Colorado in Guanacaste, where a bird was mist-netted, and from the San José area, where a specimen was collected. Both were found among or near other small shorebirds.

When to see it

The Guanacaste bird was netted on 7 November 1984, and the first San José-area specimen was collected on 16 November 1985. Both dates fall in autumn, which suggests autumn migration.

Similar birds

The Dunlin is the usual look-alike in non-breeding plumage, but the Curlew Sandpiper has longer legs and a longer, thinner, more curved bill. The Red Knot is larger and has a straight bill. In Costa Rica the real challenge is the flock of Least, Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers around it. A Brazilian record described one beside Semipalmated Sandpipers by its long, pointed, downcurved bill, long legs and gray back and breast.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The official Costa Rican name is Correlimos Zarapitín. Other Spanish sources call it Playero Zarapito, Correlimos Cucharón and Correlimos de Garganta Roja.

Status and conservation

The official Costa Rican list (2025-2026 version) codes it M, a migrant, while the IUCN treats Costa Rica as a place of non-breeding vagrants and lists the species as Vulnerable worldwide, with a decreasing population.

Photography tips

The long legs lift the rear end while it feeds, and this shows the white rump from far away. Use that tilt to pick the bird out of a flock of peeps before you raise the camera.