Stilt Sandpiper [Calidris himantopus]
Description
The Stilt Sandpiper is a small to medium-sized shorebird, measuring 18–23 cm in length. It has a distinctively long and thin bill, and long greenish-yellow legs. Its breeding plumage is a rich, rusty upperpart and a white underside with distinctive black spots. Non-breeding adults exhibit a grey-brown color. Stilt Sandpipers are migratory, breeding in the open arctic tundra of North America and wintering in South America and the Caribbean. They feed on invertebrates and small crustaceans, often probing deeply into the mud with their long bills. Their call is a soft 'kree' or 'kreel' sound.
Taxonomy
| Phylum |
Chordates
Chordata
|
|---|---|
| Class |
Birds
Aves
|
| Order |
Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers
Charadriiformes
|
| Family |
Sandpipers and Allies
Scolopacidae
|
| Genus |
Stilt Sandpiper
Calidris
|