Spoon-billed Sandpiper

Calidris pygmaea

Family: Sandpipers and Allies · Status: Vagrant · Size: 14–16 cm · Conservation: Critically Endangered

Range

Breeds in northeastern Siberia. Winters in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.

Identification

Small wader resembling Red-necked and Little Stints. Diagnostic feature is its distinctive spatulate bill; beware of mud obscuring bill-tip on similar stints. Larger-headed and longer-winged than Red-necked Stint. In breeding plumage, reddish-brown head, breast, and back; breast streaked extending to white belly. Non-breeding adults have pale brownish-grey upperparts with lightly streaked cap and neck; underparts, throat, and forehead white. Legs black.

Habitat

Intertidal mudflats, sandflats and prawn ponds.

Behaviour

Feeds in shallow water and on soft wet mud, sweeping bill from side to side while walking forward with head down.