The Birds · Plate CLIII

Least Sandpiper

Calidris minutilla

Scolopacidae · Taxon 3864

Length	Both sexes: 5.1–5.9 in (13–15 cm)
Wingspan	Both sexes: 10.6–11.0 in (27–28 cm)
Weight	Both sexes: 0.7–1.1 oz (19–30 g)

Field marks

Extremely small, compact shorebird with a rounded body
Thin black bill with a slightly downcurved tip
Slim, medium-length yellowish-green legs
Warm-brown upperparts with pale or rusty-edged feathers
White belly with brown smudging or streaking across the throat and breast
Relatively short, pointed wings and a short tail

HabitatBreeds in wet tundra, bogs, sedge meadows, and open boreal wetlands. During migration and winter it uses mudflats, marsh edges, estuaries, wet fields, rocky shores, and muddy margins of ponds, lakes, rivers, and ditches, generally favoring sheltered, muddier ground over open sandy beaches.

BehaviorWalks slowly, often in a crouched posture, picking tiny invertebrates from the surface and probing damp mud with its bill. It commonly feeds in loose, relatively small flocks and favors slightly drier margins than other small sandpipers.

Palette

warm brownrusty tancreamy whiteblackyellow-green