- Calidris himantopus
Micropalama himantopus
Identification
18-23 cm (7-9 in)
- Long, yellowish-green legs
- Long neck
- Long bill, slightly drooping at the tip
- Grey tail
- Wings plain
- White supercilium
Breeding plumage heavily barred on the underside, with dark blotches on the back, and chestnut cheek patch; rump mottled dark on white.
Nonbreeding plumage all gray on back with lighter belly; rump white.
Juvenile browner above, with dark mantle feathers fringed red-brown and wing coverts fringed whitish giving a 'scaly' appearance; buffy breast grading into white belly; rump white.
Flight
Plain upperwing with no obvious wing bars; underwing with white axillaries.
Similar Species
Lesser Yellowlegs, Curlew Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper.
Distribution
Photo © by Chaiyan
Polk City Wildlife Area, central Iowa, May 2004
Breeds on tundra close to the Arctic Sea coasts of northern Alaska, northern Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, and the Hudson Bay shore of Manitoba. On migration on open freshwater pools throughout North and northern South America, though scarce west of the Great Plains. Winters in South America from Peru to northern Argentina; a few also winter in Florida and southern California.
Vagrant to Europe, including the British Isles, mostly adults in late summer.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
The Stilt Sandpiper was formerly placed in the genus Micropalama by most authorities, but this treatment was found to leave the genus Calidris paraphyletic.[2]
Habitat
Salt marshes, mudflats. Sedge meadows.
Behaviour
Often wades in deep water, often mixing with other Calidris species or with Long-billed Dowitchers and Lesser Yellowlegs.
Breeding
It nests on the ground, 3-4 eggs are laid.
Diet
The diet includes insects and other invertebrates.
Vocalisation
Flight call: recalls Curlew Sandpiper's trrrp.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0 00 219728 6
- Birdforum Member observations
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Stilt Sandpiper. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 October 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Stilt_Sandpiper
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
