The Movements of Icelandic Breeding Purple Sandpipers Calidris maritima Outside the Breeding Season

Although a few ringing recoveries indicate that Icelandic breeding Purple Sandpipers Calidris maritima remain in Iceland through the year, there was the possibility that some spend the non-breeding season outside Iceland. To obtain a better understanding of their movements, 22 breeding adults (mainly males) were colour-ringed and tagged with geolocators in Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea colonies on heathland adjacent to the coast of the Melrakkaslétta in northeast Iceland during 2019 and 2022. Counts, including searches for the colour-ringed birds, were also made on the coast beside the breeding areas through one non-breeding season (2019/20). Based on the recovery of 13 geolocators from males, 11 remained in northeast Iceland for the autumn moult, whilst two moved to northwest Iceland. By mid-winter, only five remained in northeast Iceland, and the rest wintered in the northwest and west of Iceland. Observations of colour-ringed birds confirmed that some remained close to their breeding area in autumn before dispersing to other parts of Iceland for winter. There was no evidence that Icelandic breeding birds left Iceland. Birds that wintered in the northwest and west of Iceland, returned to the northeast mainly during April. Counts during the non-breeding season along the shore adjacent to the breeding areas exceeded the number that could be accounted for by the local breeding population, indicating an influx of wintering birds from elsewhere.