Birds of Singapore
by the Bird Society of Singapore
Limnodromus semipalmatus
Family: Sandpipers and Allies · Status: Very rare migrant · Size: 34–36 cm · Conservation: Near Threatened
Breeds in northern Kazakhstan, southern Russia, northern Mongolia, and northeastern China. Winters mainly in estuarine areas of Sumatra and Java, with smaller numbers through the Indian subcontinent, Indochina, and northwestern Australia.
Medium-sized shorebird with a long, straight, heavy-tipped bill, usually entirely black but sometimes with faint pink at the lower mandible base. In non-breeding plumage, light grey overall with dark crown and eyestripe, faint neck streaks, wing coverts mostly dark with white fringes. Overall, darker above than the godwits. In breeding plumage, shows orange-red head, breast, and upper belly, and orange-fringed upperpart feathers. In flight, shows mostly brown rump and thinly-barred uppertail. Smaller with a thicker, blunter bill, and a more robust, short-necked appearance than Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits.
Coastal mudflats and occasionally inland freshwater areas.
Feeds by probing deeply into mud with a repetitive stiff-necked action; usually associates with similar-sized and larger waders, like Eurasian Whimbrel.