Stilt Sandpiper
Encyclopedia
The Stilt Sandpiper, Calidris himantopus or Micropalama himantopus, is a small shorebird
; it bears some resemblance to the smaller calidrid sandpipers or "stint
s". DNA sequence
information is incapable of determining whether it should be placed in Calidris or in the monotypic
genus
Micropalama (Thomas et al., 2004). It appears most closely allied with the Curlew Sandpiper
, which is another aberrant species only tentatively placed in Calidris and could conceivably separated with it in Erolia.
The Stilt Sandpiper breeds in the open arctic tundra
of North America
. It is a long-distance migrant
, wintering mainly in northern South America
. It occurs as a rare vagrant in western Europe
, Japan and northern Australia.
This species nests on the ground, laying three or four eggs. The male has a display flight. Outside the breeding season, this bird is normally found on inland waters, rather than open coasts.
This species resembles the Curlew Sandpiper in its curved bill, long neck, pale supercilium and white rump. It is readily distinguished from that species by its much longer and paler legs, which give rise to its common
and scientific names. It also lacks an obvious wing bar in flight.
Breeding adults are distinctive, heavily barred beneath, and with reddish patches above and below the supercilium. The back is brown with darker feather centres. Winter plumage is basically gray above and white below.
Juvenile Stilt Sandpipers resemble the adults in their strong head pattern and brownish back, but they are not barred below, and show white fringes on the back feathering.
These birds forage on muddy, picking up food by sight, often jabbing like the dowitcher
s with which they often associate. They mainly eat insects and other invertebrates.
Wader
Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...
; it bears some resemblance to the smaller calidrid sandpipers or "stint
Stint
A stint is one of several very small waders in the paraphyletic "Calidris" assemblage - often separated in Erolia -, which in North America are known as peeps...
s". DNA sequence
DNA sequence
The sequence or primary structure of a nucleic acid is the composition of atoms that make up the nucleic acid and the chemical bonds that bond those atoms. Because nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are unbranched polymers, this specification is equivalent to specifying the sequence of...
information is incapable of determining whether it should be placed in Calidris or in the monotypic
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...
genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Micropalama (Thomas et al., 2004). It appears most closely allied with the Curlew Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
The Curlew Sandpiper is a small wader that breeds on the tundra of Arctic Siberia. It is strongly migratory, wintering mainly in Africa, but also in south and southeast Asia and in Australasia...
, which is another aberrant species only tentatively placed in Calidris and could conceivably separated with it in Erolia.
The Stilt Sandpiper breeds in the open arctic tundra
Tundra
In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. It is a long-distance migrant
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
, wintering mainly in northern South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. It occurs as a rare vagrant in western Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Japan and northern Australia.
This species nests on the ground, laying three or four eggs. The male has a display flight. Outside the breeding season, this bird is normally found on inland waters, rather than open coasts.
This species resembles the Curlew Sandpiper in its curved bill, long neck, pale supercilium and white rump. It is readily distinguished from that species by its much longer and paler legs, which give rise to its common
Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
and scientific names. It also lacks an obvious wing bar in flight.
Breeding adults are distinctive, heavily barred beneath, and with reddish patches above and below the supercilium. The back is brown with darker feather centres. Winter plumage is basically gray above and white below.
Juvenile Stilt Sandpipers resemble the adults in their strong head pattern and brownish back, but they are not barred below, and show white fringes on the back feathering.
These birds forage on muddy, picking up food by sight, often jabbing like the dowitcher
Dowitcher
The three dowitchers are medium-sized long-billed wading birds. They resemble godwits in body and bill shape, and the reddish underparts in summer, but are much shorter legged, more like snipe to which they are also somewhat closer related...
s with which they often associate. They mainly eat insects and other invertebrates.
External links
- Stilt Sandpiper Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Stilt Sandpiper Calidris himantopus - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
- Stilt Sandpiper Information and Photos - South Dakota Birds and Birding
- Oiseaux Photos