Calidris canutus

Shorebirds use their sense of taste when probing sand for food. The purple sandpiper, Calidris maritima, and the knot, Calidris canutus, forage much longer in jars that contain food buried in sand, or sand with an extract of food, than in jars with plain sand (Gerritsen etal, 1983). Table 12.3 lists the responses of various seabirds to prey odors. 

Sanderling, Calidris alba Red knot, Calidris canutus... 

Damste JSS, Dekker M, van Dongen BE, Schouten S, Piersma T. (2000) Stmctural identification of the diester preen-gland waxes of the red knot Calidris canutus). JNat ProdGy. 381-384. 

Gerritsen, A. E. C., van Heezik, Y. M., and Swennen, C. (1983). Chemoreception in two further Calidris species (C. maritima and C. canutus) with a comparison of the relative importance of chemoreception during foraging in Calidris species. Netherlands Journal of Zoology 33,485-496. 

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