Dunlin - BirdForum Opus

Photo by CJW
Photographed:Smeale, Isle of Man

Calidris alpina

Identification

L 17-21 cm, WS 32-36 cm.
Black bill, with de-curved tip
Breeding

• Crown and upperparts rufous, streaked darker
• Wings: greyish brown, with pale bar and dark tips
• White sides to rump and tail
• White breast with darker streaks
• Black belly
• White undertail coverts
  

Non-breeding

• Rufous areas become grey and belly all white

Distribution

Breeding birds from northern Europe and Asia winter in Africa and southeast Asia. Those that have bred in Alaska and the Canadian Arctic move down to the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America.

Taxonomy

Subspecies^[1]

There are 9 subspecies:

• C. a. arcticola:

• North-western Alaska and north-western Canada; winters eastern China, Korea and JapanI

• C. a. pacifica:

• South-western Alaska; winters in western US and western Mexico

• C. a. hudsonia:

• Central Canada; winters south-eastern US and eastern Mexico

• C. a.arctica:

• North-eastern Greenland; winters mainly north-western Africa

• C. a. schinzii:

• Greenland and Iceland to southern Scandinavia; winters to north-western Africa

• C. a. alpina:

• Scandinavia to eastern Russia; winters to Mediterranean and India

• C. a. sakhalina:

• Russia to Chukotsk Peninsula; winters China, Japan and Taiwan

• C. a. actites:

• Northern Sakhalin; wintering grounds unknown

• C. a. kistchinskii:

• Sea of Okhotsk to Kuril Islands; wintering grounds unknown

A 10th subspecies centralis is not recognised by all authorities^[2]

Habitat

Breeds on low or high ground, in wet short-grass or tundra habitats; on migration (in autumn adults in late July-August, juveniles in late August-October), found in a variety of marshy or coastal habitats, but most numerous on tidal flats or on banks of seaweed on shallow shores.

Coastal mudflats and beaches.

Behaviour

They form huge winter flocks, often mixing with Ringed Plover and Sanderling

Diet

The diet includes insects, snails and worms.

Breeding

They nest in a shallow scrape on the ground lined with vegetation. The 4 eggs are incubated by both adults. The male cares for the young.

Vocalisation

Song: a trill. Flight Call: treep or chreet <flashmp3>Calidris alpina (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program

References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Avibase
3. Wikipedia
4. Collins Pocket Guide to British Birds 1966
5. Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0 00 219728 6

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Dunlin. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 7 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Dunlin

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