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Australian Wildlife

  Little Stint (Calidris minuta)





Little Stint | Calidris minuta photo
Little Stint

Image by Andreas Trepte - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)

Little Stint | Calidris minuta photo
Little Stint

Image by Andreas Trepte - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)







LITTLE STINT FACTS

Description
The Little Stint is a very small wader. teh non-breeding plumage is mottled grey above and white below. The breeding plumage has a reddish breast, white throat and white v-shaped marking on the back that is visible from behind. The dark bill has a fine tip, and the legs are dark. Both male and female look alike. Young birds have pale stripes on crown of the head.

Size
about 12 cm to 15 cm long

Habitat
coastal mudflats and shores of inland water

Food
small invertebrates

Breeding
The nest is a scrape in the bare ground, where the female lays three to five eggs. It does not breed in Australia.

Range
It breeds in arctic Europe and Asia, and is a rare vagrant to Australia

distribution map showing range of Calidris minuta in Australia

Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.



Classification
Class:Aves
Order:Charadriiformes
Family:Scolopacidae
Genus:Calidris
Species:minuta
Common Name:Little Stint

Relatives in same Genus
  Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (C. acuminata)
  Sanderling (C. alba)
  Dunlin (C. alpina)
  Baird's Sandpiper (C. bairdii)
  Red Knot (C. canutus)
  Curlew Sandpiper (C. ferruginea)
  White-rumped Sandpiper (C. fuscicollis)
  Pectoral Sandpiper (C. melanotos)
  Long-toed Stint (C. subminuta)
  Great Knot (C. tenuirostris)