Species: Calidris minutilla

Least Sandpiper

Species

Birds

Show on Lists

Salish Sea-reliant birds

Terrestrial vertebrates: birds

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Scolopacidae

Genus

Calidris

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102217

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Maçariquinho - Playero Chichicuilote, Playero Enano - bécasseau minuscule

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Shorebirds

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Charadriiformes - Scolopacidae - Calidris

Ecology and Life History

Migration

false - false - true - Most migrate northward through U.S. in late April and early May, arriving in nesting areas May-June. At Sable Island, Nova Scotia, begins to arrive by mid-May; females begin to migrate south by late June, males in early July, fledglings later. In British Columbia, southward adult migration was late June to early August, juvenile migration was late July to late September (Butler and Kaiser 1995, Wilson Bull. 107:413-422). Migrates through Costa Rica early August-October and early March-early May (Stiles and Skutch 1989). Arrives in northern South America by mid- to late July (juveniles first arrive mid-August), most depart by early April (Hilty and Brown 1986). May migrate from southeastern Canada directly to South America over western Atlantic (Hayman et al. 1986).

Non-migrant

false

Locally Migrant

false

Food Comments

Eats small insects, crustaceans, mollusks, and worms obtained from surface of shallow water, mud, or ground, or by probing into mud (Terres 1980).

Reproduction Comments

Clutches are completed from late May tolate June. Clutch size is 4. Incubation, mostly by male (female at night), lasts about 19-22 days. Male attends young an average of about 3 weeks; female attendance averages about 1 week. Chicks fly strongly by 2 weeks (Miller 1985). Broods may amalgamate in habitat patches where families congregate after hatching (Can. J. Zool. 70:403).

Ecology Comments

Mortality of young high at Sable Island, mostly due to herring gull predation. Adults and fledglings tend to flock assortatively in late summer (Miller 1983). Nonbreeding: usually in small groups, singly, or from late winter onward in pairs (Stiles and Skutch 1989).

Length

Weight

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-11-26

Global Status Last Changed

1996-11-26

Other Status

LC - Least concern

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - BREEDS: western Alaska and northern Yukon east through southern Keewatin and Southampton Island to northern Quebec and northern Labrador, south to southern Alaska, northwestern British Columbia, northern Saskatchewan, northeastern Manitoba, northern Ontario, eastern Quebec, Nova Scotia (Sable Island) and Newfoundland, also at Monomoy, Massachusetts (AOU 1983). NORTHERN WINTER: Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, southen Utah, New Mexico, Texas, Gulf states, and North Carolina south through Middle America, West Indies, and South America (to northern Chile, eastern Peru, Brazil); uncommon but regular in Hawaii. Nonbreeders summer in winter range, primarily in North America south to California and Gulf Coast (AOU 1983).

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102217