Birds of North Carolina
their Distribution and Abundance
Scientific Name:
Common Name:
 Family (Alpha):
SCOLOPACIDAE Members: Purple Sandpiper 263
General Comments
Hardly any bird has as restrictive a habitat in North Carolina than does the Purple Sandpiper, and no other shorebird winters farther northward in eastern North America than does this species. It is practically only found on wave-washed rocks and bridge pilings along the coast, where the state is near the southern end of the winter range. Thus, the few jetties and groins along the coast are essentially its sole habitat, and thus it is restricted to a handful of sites along several hundred miles of coast. Perhaps no more than 25-50 birds overwinter in the state. A few can at rare times be seen on a beach near rocks, but it has yet to be found inland. The only record that might be considered "Tidewater" is from the Cedar Island ferry terminal. Though of regular occurrence in the state in recent decades, the first state record wasn't made until 1948.
Breeding Status
Nonbreeder
NC BRC List
Definitive
State Status
none
U.S. Status
Definitive
State Rank
S1N
Global Rank
G5
Coastal Plain
Winter resident along the coast. Numerically very rare to rare, but in reality, uncommon at a handful of suitable groins and jetties. Most are found at the jetties at the south end of Wrightsville Beach (Masonboro Inlet), but a few occur at Fort Macon SP and at Oregon Inlet. Mostly early Nov to mid-Apr. Late dates -- Harkers Island (Carteret), 1 Jun 2025; Fort Macon, 31 May 2002; early date - Wilmington [Wrightsville Beach?], 12 Sep 1952. Peak counts: 83, Wrightsville Beach jetty (Masonboro Inlet), 4 Jan 2025; 79 counted from a still video at the same jetty, 14 Jan 2024; 61 counted at Masonboro Inlet, 24 Jan 2023; 60, Wilmington CBC, 1 Jan 2014; 56, Masonboro Inlet (New Hanover), 24 Dec 2015; 51, Wrightsville Beach, 3 Jan 2010. (All of these are probably from the same jetty at the southern end of Wrightsville Beach.) No inland records, except for one at Cedar Island ferry terminal area, 9 Nov 2001.
Piedmont
No records.
Mountain
No records.
Finding Tips
The best location in NC is the jetty at the south end of Wrightsville Beach, where 30 or more birds are present each winter, but you likely will need a scope to see the birds well. A few are present each winter on the groin at the north end of Pea Island and on the bridge piling bases at the south end of the Bonner Bridge at Oregon Inlet. The jetties at Fort Macon often have one to three birds. Birds have been seen a few times on the rocks at the Fort Fisher basin and on the groins at the Cape Hatteras lighthouse.