Adults: Breeding: Upperparts, brow with feathers edged with pale rufous and tipped buff. Throat, whitish. Neck, breast, mottled buff and greyish-brown, with very faint streaking forming a distinctive breastband. Eye, dark brown. Eyebrow, pale. Center of rump, uppertail coverts, brownish-grey. Sides of rump, belly, undertail coverts, underwing, white. Tail, three outer pair tail feathers white, central feathers brownish-grey, getting darker towards the tip. Wing coverts, brown, edged with buff. Greater coverts tipped white, forming a narrow wing bar. Bill, black. Legs, yellowish to dark greenish-grey. Non-breeding: Upperparts more uniform grey brown. Breast band pale greyish-brown.
Immatures: Similar to non-breeding adult, but feathers of crown, back, scapulars, tertials, have subterminal dark bands and are tipped buff, giving a scalloped appearance.
Family
Scolopacidae (Sandpipers, Snipes, Phalaropes)
Afghanistan (P), Albania, Algeria, Austria, Azerbaijan (NB), Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China (mainland), Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Côte dIvoire, Cyprus (NB), Czech Republic, Denmark (P), Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia (B), Ethiopia, Finland (B) (P), France (NB) (P), Gambia, Georgia, Germany (P), Ghana, Greece (NB) (P), Guinea, Hong Kong (China), Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran [Islamic Republic of], Iraq (NB) (P), Israel, Italy (NB), Japan, Jordan (P), Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (NB), Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mongolia (B), Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands Antilles, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Norway (B) (P), Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland (P), Portugal, Qatar, Romania (P), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B) (P), Russia (European) (B) (P), Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia (Slovak Republic), Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain (NB), Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden (B) (P), Switzerland, Taiwan (China), Tajikistan, Tanzania [United Republic of], Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey (NB), Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine (P), United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (B), Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen.
Vagrant to Armenia, British Indian Ocean Territory, Burkina Faso, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska), Guam, Ireland, Lebanon, Montenegro, Northern Mariana Islands, Serbia, Syrian Arab Republic, USA, Zambia.
Scandinavia through north-western Russia and northern Siberia east to Chukotskiy Peninsula and Anadyrland; irregularly in Britain. Winters from Mediterranean, northern tropical Africa and Middle East through Indian Subcontinent and Indochina to southern China, Taiwan and southern Ryukyu Is, and south to Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo; occasionally to Philippines.
Temminck's Stint (Calidris temminckii) [XC809521]
by Peter Boesman from Tinnh\u00f8len, Vestland, Norway (song, flight display)
Temminck's Stint (Calidris temminckii) [XC765692]
by Stanislas Wroza from Zavkhan, Uvs, Mongolia (flight call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. Breeds in northern Europe.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Nest
A shallow cup, on the ground, in the open, lined with vegetation.
Eggs (Guide)
4; glossy, green-grey fading to buff, with brown spots.
Subspecies
Formerly placed in genus Erolia.
No subspecies.
Similar Species
Long-toed Stint (Calidris subminuta)
Similar size. Also has yellowish legs. Folded wingtips are level with tail tip (not longer). Lacks white edges to outer tail feathers. Grey brown breast is streaked. Legs are longer.
Little Stint (Calidris minuta)
Similar size. Legs are black. In non-breeding plumage generally greyish brown upperparts. A grey-brown zone on sides of upper breast only (not front).
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet