- Calidris canutus
Identification
Length 23-26 cm
Wingspan 47-53 cm
- Black bill
- Olive-green legs
Summer
Reddish-chestnut, apart from white under-tail coverts and grey wings with a light bar and dark tips
Winter
Reddish parts become grey above and white below.
Distribution
Breeds in the high Arctic, rarely in the Western Palearctic but there are old breeding records for Svalbard.
Mainly a passage migrant and winter visitor to the region. Main wintering areas are around the British Isles and on coasts from Denmark to Spain and the Atlantic coast of North-West Africa. Smaller numbers are found in the Mediterranean mainly on the coasts of Spain and Tunisia, southern Italy, Sicily and Greece. Common on passage in the Baltic and on North-West European coasts in Jul-Sep with smaller numbers again in May.
Vagrant to various Cyprus and the Near East countries, Madeira and Cape Verde Islands. Vagrant or rare but regular winter visitor to the Azores.
Wintering birds in Western Europe are mainly ssp islandica from breeding grounds in Arctic Canada, birds on passage include many canutus from North Siberia but the races cannot be separated in winter plumage. Subspecies rufa from Canada south of islandica has been reported from Britain.
Taxonomy
There are six subspecies, in order of size;
- C. c. roselaari (largest)
- C. c. rufa
- C. c. canutus
- C. c. islandica
- C. c. rogersi
- C. c. piersmai (smallest)
Habitat
Breeds in, sparsely vegetated foothills and high, rocky plateaux. On passage and in winter found on sandy and muddy shores, on wide estuaries and mudflats. Also on shingle beaches and sometimes on coastal grassland.
Behaviour
Breeding
Three to four eggs are laid in a shallow lined scrape. They are incubated by both adults. The male tends the young until they fledge.
Vocalisation
<flashmp3>Calidris canutus (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
References
- Wikipedia
- Collins Pocket Guide to British Birds 1966
