Semipalmated Sandpipers spend the Canadian winter in northern South America, primarily in Suriname and French Guiana. They begin their northward migration from South America in early to mid-May each year. The birds follow routes up the eastern coast or centre of North America, stopping only for short periods at such staging areas as Delaware Bay, New Jersey; Cheyenne Bottoms, Kansas; and Quill Lakes, Saskatchewan Males usually arrive on the arctic breeding grounds in late May, a few days before females.
