The least sandpiper (''Calidris minutilla'') is the smallest
shorebird
245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots
Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...
. The
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
name is from
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
for some grey-colored waterside birds. The specific ''minutilla'' is
Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...
for "very small".
Description
![Calidris minutilla-foraging](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Calidris_minutilla-foraging.jpg)
This
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
has greenish legs and a short, thin, dark
bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
. Breeding adults are brown with dark brown streaks on top and white underneath. They have a light line above the eye and a dark crown. In winter, Least sandpipers are grey above. The juveniles are brightly patterned above with rufous coloration and white mantle stripes.
This bird can be difficult to distinguish from other similar tiny shorebirds; these are known collectively as "peeps" or "
stint
A stint is one of several very small waders in the paraphyletic ''"Calidris"'' assemblage – often separated in ''Erolia'' – which in North America are known as peeps. They are scolopacid waders much similar in ecomorphology to the ...
s". In particular, least sandpiper is very similar to its
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
n counterpart,
long-toed stint
The long-toed stint (''Calidris subminuta'') is a small wader. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific ''subminuta'' is from Latin ''sub'', ...
. It differs from that species in its more compact, shorter-necked appearance, shorter toes, somewhat duller colors, and stronger wingbar.
Measurements:
* Length: 5.1-5.9 in (13-15 cm)
* Weight: 0.7-1.1 oz (19-30 g)
* Wingspan: 10.6-11.0 in (27-28 cm)
Breeding and migration
Their breeding habitat is the northern
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
n continent on
tundra
In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless moun ...
or in
bogs. They nest on the ground near water. The female lays four eggs in a shallow scrape lined with grass and moss. Both parents
incubate; the female leaves before the young birds fledge and sometimes before the
eggs
Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...
hatch. The young birds feed themselves and are able to fly within two weeks of birth.
They
migrate in flocks to the southern
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
,
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
, the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
, and northern
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
. They occur as very rare vagrants in western
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.
Feeding
These birds forage on mudflats, picking up food by sight, sometimes by probing. They mainly eat small
crustaceans
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...
,
insects
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...
, and
snails
A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastro ...
.
References
Further reading
Identification
*
Jonsson, Lars &
Peter J. Grant (1984) Identification of stints and peeps ''
British Birds'' 77(7):293-315
External links
An online identification article covering this species and other small calidridsat surfbirds.com
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
*
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q913052
Erolia
least sandpiper
The least sandpiper (''Calidris minutilla'') is the smallest shorebird. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-colored waterside birds. The specific ''minutilla'' is Medieval Lat ...
Birds of North America
Birds of Central America
Birds of the Caribbean
Birds of Hispaniola
Birds of the Dominican Republic
Birds of South America
Birds of Canada
Birds of Mexico
Birds of the United States
Native birds of Alaska
Least concern biota of North America
Least concern biota of Mexico
Least concern biota of the United States
Least concern biota of South America
least sandpiper
The least sandpiper (''Calidris minutilla'') is the smallest shorebird. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-colored waterside birds. The specific ''minutilla'' is Medieval Lat ...
least sandpiper
The least sandpiper (''Calidris minutilla'') is the smallest shorebird. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-colored waterside birds. The specific ''minutilla'' is Medieval Lat ...