- Calidris minuta
Identification
Length: 12-14 cm (4.75-5.5 in) The smallest sandpiper in Europe. It has scaled-brown upperparts and white underparts. Face, neck, and breast are rust-brown with black spots. Back has white lines that form a distinctive V pattern in flight. Legs are black. Sexes are similar. Winter adult has dull brown upperparts and gray-brown streaks on white underparts. Juvenile has chestnut-brown wash on head and back.
Distribution
Little Stint: Eurasian species. Breeds from Norway to Russian border, winters in Saharan Africa and India; also reported from Canada.
Taxonomy
Habitat
Breeds on coastal and island tundra, often with willow scrub; found on sandy beaches, mudflats, and estuaries during winter.
Behaviour
This bird nests on a bare ground scrape laying 3-5 eggs. It is polygamous, and male and female may incubate separate clutches.
Food is small invertebrates picked off the mud.
The Little Stint is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
Bird Song
<flashmp3>Calidris minuta (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
