Sanderlings sleeping on a beach in Terschelling, Netherlands

Sanderlings sleeping on a beach in Terschelling, Netherlands

Despite this group-nap pose, sanderlings are active birds that migrate extremely long distances every year. In spring they fly from South America and Africa to the High Arctic beaches and river banks of North America, Europe and Asia. Once they’ve laid eggs and raised their young, they head back south again, stopping on beaches along the way to stitch their needlelike beaks into the sand for insect-sized crustaceans.