1st in Bengal: Arctic Tundra bird clicked in Frasergunj
Times of India | 12 September 2025
Kolkata: In a first for Bengal, a pectoral sandpiper, one of the longest-distance migratory birds, has been sighted at Kargil Beach, Frasergunj, on Wednesday by birders Agniva Dasgupta, Shantanu Ghosh, Patrali Pal and Soumyojit Talukder.
From the Arctic Tundra of North America and Southeast Siberia, the pectoral sandpiper travels to South America during winter. The species is considered very rare in India, with sporadic sightings being reported along the western coast and the Andamans.
"In Bengali, sandpipers are known as ‘Kadakhocha'. As the name suggests, these waders negotiate mudflats in search of food. In the coastal areas of Sundarbans and Bakkhali-Frasergunj, common, wood, green and marsh (rare) sandpipers have earlier been reported.
This is the first record of a pectoral sandpiper from Bengal," said Dasgupta. According to him, the colour of their beak and legs are different from that of other sandpipers.
Kousheyo Bagchi of Birdwatchers' Society and other seniors in the group helped identify the bird.
The pectoral sandpiper is a medium-sized sandpiper that breeds on wet tundra in both the North American and Siberian Arctic and winters mostly in southern South America.
It migrate southward from Arctic breeding areas in the largest numbers through central North America to winter primarily on the pampas of south-central and southern South America. Most individuals that breed in Siberia migrate east, or perhaps even along the Great Circle route over the Arctic Ocean, to Alaska or Canada and then on to South American wintering areas. Individuals at the extremes of this range potentially make a total return-trip migration of more than 30,000 km, a distance comparable to that flown by the Arctic tern and other migratory champions.
Small numbers winter regularly in SE Asia and the South Pacific, mainly Australia and New Zealand. Northward migration proceeds rapidly through central South America and the Caribbean.
"It is generally believed that long-term population reduction, if it has occurred, was because of market hunting in the late nineteenth century, but more likely because of more recent habitat loss and degradation. Recent surveys conducted on the breeding grounds show that the species is more abundant than was previously believed.
Population numbers have been stable over recent history," said Bagchi.
"This looks like a vagrant. Many aspects of pectoral sandpiper breeding and migration biology have been studied, providing a reasonably good outline of its distribution, ecology, and life history. Little information exists, however, on the distribution and ecology of populations in the non-breeding season," said Kanad Baidya of Birdwatchers' Society.