One type of bird that lives on the beach is the sanderling. Sanderlings are special birds. They migrate, or travel from one place to live in another. They spend part of the year on warm, sunny beaches and part on the cold tundra.
In the winter, the birds live in Florida and South America. They eat small crabs that live in the sand.
In the spring, the sanderlings leave the beaches and fly north to the Arctic. They travel thousands of miles. When they reach the Arctic, it is still cold.
Plants grow and flowers bloom in the Arctic summer. The birds feed on insects and butterflies.
They use leaves to build nests. There are no trees in the Arctic, so the birds build their nests on the soft ground.
Mother birds lay their eggs. The parents protect the eggs from the cold and from other animals.
Chicks hatch after about 24 days. They leave the nest quickly and feed along the water’s edge. When they are two weeks old, they learn to fly.

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