Least sandpiper
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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-coloured waterside birds. The specific minutilla is Medieval Latin for "very small".<ref name=job>Template:Cite book</ref>
Within the genus Calidris the least sandpiper is most closely related to the white-rumped sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Description
This species has yellow-green legs and a short, thin, dark bill. 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 colour and white mantle stripes.
This bird can be difficult to distinguish from other similar tiny shorebirds; these are known collectively as "peeps" or "stints". In particular, least sandpiper is very similar to its Asian counterpart, long-toed stint. It differs from that species in its more compact, shorter-necked appearance, shorter toes, somewhat duller colour, and stronger wingbar.
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Breeding and migration
Their breeding habitat is the northern North American continent on tundra 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 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, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. They occur as very rare vagrants in western Europe.<ref name="NBotWM">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=Mitchell>Template:Cite book</ref>
Feeding
These birds forage on mudflats, picking up food by sight, sometimes by probing. They mainly eat small crustaceans, insects, and snails. File:20230914 least sandpipers point meadows keeney cove.webm
References
Further reading
Identification
- Jonsson, Lars & Peter J. Grant (1984) Identification of stints and peeps British Birds 77 (7): 293-315
External links
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- An online identification article covering this species and other small calidrids Template:Webarchive at surfbirds.com
- Least sandpiper species account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Least sandpiper - Calidris minutilla - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
- Least sandpiper photos at Oiseaux.net
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- Calidris
- Sandpipers
- Birds of North America
- Birds of Central America
- Birds of the Caribbean
- 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
- Birds described in 1819
- Taxa named by Louis Pierre Vieillot