- Lifespan
- 15–20 years in the wild
- Size & Weight
- 19–21 cm, wingspan 32–35 cm; 40–50 g
- Habitat
- Rocky coastlines, breakwaters, and wave-exposed shores where they forage among kelp and algae-covered rocks.
- UK Distribution
- Winter visitor and passage migrant found mainly on northern and western coasts, particularly Scotland, Wales, and northern England; small numbers breed in the Scottish Highlands.
- Diet
- Small invertebrates including amphipods, isopods, small molluscs, and insect larvae picked from rocks and seaweed.
- Prey
- Amphipods, isopods, chironomid larvae, small crustaceans
- Predators
- Peregrine falcons, merlins, and occasionally great black-backed gulls
- Mating Season
- May to July
- Breeding
- Clutch of 4 eggs, incubation period 21–22 days, single brood; chicks fledge at 18–20 days
- Behaviour
- Purple sandpipers are highly sedentary on their chosen stretches of shore, often remaining faithful to the same wintering sites year after year. They are remarkably tame and reluctant to fly, preferring to shuffle among rocks to escape disturbance. They are typically solitary or in small loose flocks, often associating with turnstones.