Sanderling (Calidris), a genus of birds of the Snipe family, Scolopacidae, sub-family Tringinae, characterised by the absence of a hind-toe. There is only one species, the Common Sanderling (C. arenaria), which is widely distributed, breeding in the Arctic regions, and ranging from Iceland and east Greenland in the north to Cape Colony and Natal and to Chili and Patagonia in the south, and from north Alaska in the west to Ceylon, Borneo, Java, China, Japan, and the Hawaiian Islands in the east. It visits the British Isles in winter, coming about the middle of August, and beginning to depart in April, but found even till June. It is common on the coast, and is occasionally found near inland lakes. It is about 8 inches long, and it is very fat. The winter plumage is ash gray; the under parts are all white. The summer dress has the feathers of the upper surface of a reddish tinge with black markings. The sanderling in its breeding-places feeds on the buds of saxifrages and on insects, but in Britain its food is chiefly marine worms, small crustaceans, and bivalve molluscs. Its note is a shrill wick. It is often found in company with small plovers, and occasionally with dunlins.