GRAND CANYON RATTLESNAKE PREYS ON JUVENILE SPOTTED SANDPIPERS

Abstract On 26 August 2000, a Grand Canyon rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis abyssus) was observed and photographed while it swallowed a juvenile spotted sandpiper (Actitis macularia) on a Colorado River beach at Unkar Ruins, Grand Canyon National Park, Coconino County, Arizona. Birds have occasionally been documented as prey of Crotalus viridis, but this is the first report for C. v. abyssus and the first record of a rattlesnake preying on a shorebird (Charadriiformes).