Adults: Breeding: Upperparts black and brown, with rufous and buffy edges to scapulars and coverts. Supercilium, bold and white, meeting the bae of the bill producing a white forehead. Breast, brown with conspicuous streaks. Rest of underparts, white. Bill, black and slightly drooped. Legs, yellow. Non-breeding: Upperparts, breast, brown, with some dark centers to scapulars. Supercoliuim is less distinct.
Juveniles: Like breeding adult but feathers of upperparts are edged rufous and buff, with some feathers tipped white. Usually has a strong buffy wash across the finely streaked breast.
Other Names (World)
Least Sandpiper, American Stint, Least Stint
Family
Scolopacidae (Sandpipers, Snipes, Phalaropes)
Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada (B) (P), Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador (NB), El Salvador, French Guiana, Greenland (P), Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica (NB), Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, South Korea, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Pierre and Miquelon (B) (P), St Vincent and The Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands (NB), USA (B), Venezuela, Virgin Islands (British) (NB), Virgin Islands (U.S.) (NB).
Vagrant to Antarctica, Belgium, Cape Verde, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Portugal, Russia (Asian), Spain, United Kingdom, Uruguay.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 700,000 (2010).
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) [XC283646]
by Peter Boesman from Beluga--South Bog, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States (alarm call, call)
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) [XC719735]
by Thomas Magarian from PEI National Park, Brackley Marsh, Canada (call)
Subspecies
Forms superspecies with Long-toed Stint (Calidris subminuta). Formally considered conspecific with Long-toed Stint (Calidris subminuta).
No subspecies.
Similar Species
Long-toed Stint (Calidris subminuta)
Similar size. Forehead is dark. Has a bolder split eyebrow that broadens behind the eye. Breast is often greyish or whitish with fine streaks. Underwing coverts are dark. Bill has a pale base.
Compare Images
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7
BirdLife International Species Factsheet