Dunlin - BirdForum Opus

C. a. alpina summer adult. Bright; short-billed.
Photo © by Stein Nilsen
Svalbard, Norway, 3 August 2012

Calidris alpina

Identification

Length 17–21 cm (6¾-8¼ in), wingspan 32–36 cm, weight 33–85 g
Black bill, with de-curved tip; black legs.

Adult winter
Photo © by Andy Hall
Texel, Netherlands, 17 October 2016

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
  

Juvenile

• Similar to summer adult above but fringes less rufous; underparts pale buff breast grading to white belly with blackish streaks on breast and flanks

Distribution

Breeding birds from northern Europe and Asia winter in western and southern Europe, Africa, and southern Asia. Those that breed in Alaska and the Canadian Arctic move down to the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America.

Taxonomy

Juvenile
Photo © by CJW
Smeale, Isle of Man, 31 July 2004

Most closely related to the Purple Sandpiper — Rock Sandpiper species pair, and after them, to Sanderling^[1].

Subspecies

Juvenile in flight
Photo © by mali
Elmley Marshes, Kent, 15 September 2016

Depending on authority, nine^[2] or ten^[3] subspecies are accepted:

• C. a. arctica:

• Northeastern Greenland; winters mainly northwestern Africa

• C. a. schinzii:

• Southeastern Greenland and Iceland to Britain and southern Scandinavia; winters from Britain to northwestern Africa

• C. a. alpina:

• Scandinavia to northwestern Russia; winters from Britain to Mediterranean

• C. a. centralis:

• North central to northeastern Russia; winters India (included in C. a. alpina by some authorities^[2])

• C. a. sakhalina:

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

• C. a. kistchinskii:

• Sea of Okhotsk to Kuril Islands; wintering grounds unknown

• C. a. actites:

• Northern Sakhalin; wintering grounds unknown

• C. a. arcticola:

• Northwestern Alaska and northwestern Canada; winters eastern China, Korea and Japan

• 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

The subspecies are distinguishable by bill length, and intensity of colour of the summer plumage. Winter and juvenile plumage birds are often not reliably distinguishable to subspecies, with only bill length differing.

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.

Gallery

Click images to see larger version

• 

  C. a. schinzii Summer adult. Dull; short-billed
  Photo © by Helios
  North Uist, Scotland, 26 June 2014

• 

  C. a. hudsonia Summer adult. Bright; long-billed
  Photo © by bobsofpa
  On spring passage, Bombay Hook NWR, Delaware, USA, 20 May 2016

• 

  C. a. arcticola Summer adult. Bright; long-billed
  Photo © by peterday
  St. Paul Island, The Pribilofs, Alaska, 26 June 2017

Behaviour

They form huge winter flocks, mainly on tidal mudflats (less often in freshwater), often mixing with Ringed Plover, Red Knot, and other Calidris species.

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 Listen to Dunlin sound clip

References

1. Gibson, R., & Baker, A. (2012). Multiple gene sequences resolve phylogenetic relationships in the shorebird suborder Scolopaci (Aves: Charadriiformes). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 64: 66-72.
2. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
3. Gill, F & D Donsker (Eds). 2019. IOC World Bird List (v9.2). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.9.2. Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
4. [ https://avibase.ca/15369E8E Avibase]
5. Wikipedia contributors. (2020, February 1). Dunlin. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:40, February 22, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dunlin&oldid=938657234
6. Fitter, R. S. R. (1966). Pocket Guide to British Birds. London: Collins. ISBN 0 00 212019 4
7. Grant, P.J., K. Mullarney, L. Svensson, D. Zetterstrom (1999) Collins Bird Guide: The Most Complete Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe. Harpercollins Pub Ltd ISBN 0 00 219728 6
8. Warnock, N. D. and R. E. Gill (1996). Dunlin (Calidris alpina), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bna.203
9. Van Gils, J., Wiersma, P. & Boesman, P. (2020). Dunlin (Calidris alpina). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/53938 on 22 February 2020).
10. Chandler, R. (2009). Shorebirds of North America, Europe, and Asia: A photographic guide. Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 1 40 810790 2

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Dunlin. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 18 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Dunlin

External Links

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