Stilt Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Calidris himantopus
At a Glance
This wader is related to our very smallest sandpipers, but it is much more stretched-out in shape, designed for feeding in deeper water. In its drab winter plumage the Stilt Sandpiper is often overlooked, passed off as either a yellowlegs or a dowitcher, depending on what it is doing. Standing or walking, it looks rather like a yellowlegs; feeding, it acts like a dowitcher, probing the mud with a sewing-machine motion.
All bird guide text and rangemaps adapted from Lives of North American Birds by Kenn Kaufman© 1996, used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Category
Sandpiper-like Birds, Sandpipers
IUCN Status
Least Concern
Habitat
Coasts and Shorelines, Freshwater Wetlands, Lakes, Ponds, and Rivers, Saltwater Wetlands, Tundra and Boreal Habitats
Region
Alaska and The North, California, Eastern Canada, Florida, Great Lakes, Mid Atlantic, New England, Northwest, Plains, Rocky Mountains, Southeast, Southwest, Texas, Western Canada
Behavior
Direct Flight, Rapid Wingbeats, Running
Population
1.200.000
Range & Identification
Migration & Range Maps
Migrates mostly through Great Plains; uncommon on east coast, rare on west coast, mostly in fall. A few winter as far north as United States (Florida, Texas, Salton Sea), but most apparently go to South America. In fall, adults migrate south about a month before juveniles on average.
Description
8 1/2" (22 cm). In breeding plumage has chestnut ear patches, strong pattern of dark bars below. More subtle in other plumages; note feeding actions, slender shape, drooped tip on bill. Rather long legs vary from greenish to yellow.
Size
About the size of a Robin
Color
Black, Brown, Gray, Yellow
Wing Shape
Pointed, Tapered
Tail Shape
Rounded, Short, Square-tipped, Wedge-shaped
Songs and Calls
Simple tu-tu, similar to call of Lesser Yellowlegs.
Call Pattern
Flat, Rising
Call Type
Buzz, Scream, Trill, Whistle
Habitat
Shallow pools, mudflats, marshes; tundra in summer. Typically on fresh water, including ponds and marshes with extensive shallows. Even in coastal areas, tends to occur on lagoons or ponds, not on tidal flats. Breeds on tundra, especially in sedge meadows with raised ridges for nest sites.
Sign up for Audubon's newsletter to learn more about birds like the Stilt Sandpiper
Behavior
Eggs
4. Pale cream to olive-green, heavily dotted with brown. Incubation is by both parents, 19-21 days. Female incubates at night, male during the day.
Young
Downy young leave nest soon after hatching, find all their own food. Both parents may tend young at first, but female usually departs in less than a week, male after about 2 weeks. Young can fly at about 17-18 days.
Feeding Behavior
Forages mostly by wading in shallow water and probing vertically with its bill in the mud of the bottom, often thrusting its head underwater. Sometimes picks insects from surface of water. Feeding is similar to that of dowitchers, and it often associates closely with dowitcher flocks.
Diet
Includes insects, mollusks, seeds. Diet not well known, but includes a wide variety of aquatic insects (including fly larvae and beetles), marine worms, snails; also the seeds, leaves, and roots of aquatic plants.
Nesting
Male displays over breeding territory by flying slowly with shallow wingbeats, calling incessantly, then gliding with wings in shallow "V" while giving guttural song. In courtship, spectacular aerial displays; male pursues female in the air, gets in front of her and then raises wings high over his back, singing as he plummets. Nest site is in a dry spot on low ridge or on top of sedge hummock, often surrounded by water or wet ground. Nest is shallow depression in vegetation, with little or no lining; male makes nest scrapes, female chooses one.
Climate Vulnerability
Conservation Status
Counts of migrants in some areas suggest that the species may have increased in recent decades.
Climate Threats Facing the Stilt Sandpiper
Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.