Least Sandpiper

Taxobox
name = Least Sandpiper
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
status_ref = [IUCN2006|assessors=BirdLife International|year=2004|id=49081|title=Calidris minutilla|downloaded=9 May 2006 Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern]

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image_width = 200px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Charadriiformes
familia = Scolopacidae
genus = "Calidris"
species = "C. minutilla"
binomial = "Calidris minutilla"
binomial_authority = Vieillot, 1819
subdivision_ranks = Synonyms
subdivision = "Erolia minutilla"The Least Sandpiper, "Calidris" or "Erolia minutilla", is the smallest shorebird.

This species has yellowish 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 colouration 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 colours, and stronger wingbar.

Their breeding habitat is the northern North American continent on tundra or in bogs. They nest on the ground near water. The female lays 4 eggs in a shallow scrape lined with grass and most. 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 and northern South America. They occur as very rare vagrants in western Europe.

These birds forage on mudflats, picking up food by sight, sometimes by probing. They mainly eat small crustaceans, insects and snails.

References

Further reading

Identification

* Jonsson, Lars & Peter J. Grant (1984) Identification of stints and peeps "British Birds" 77(7):293-315

External links

* [http://www.surfbirds.com/Features/coxpeeps1006/coxpeeps1006.html An online identification article covering this species and other small calidrids]
* [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Least_Sandpiper.html Least Sandpiper Species Account] - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
* [http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i2420id.html Least Sandpiper "Calidris minutilla"] - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
* [http://www.sdakotabirds.com/species/least_sandpiper_info.htm Least Sandpiper Information and Photos] - South Dakota Birds and Birding
* [http://www.oiseaux.net/birds/photos/least.sandpiper.html Oiseaux] Photos