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Stilt Sandpiper

Calidris himantopusOrder: CHARADRIIFORMESFamily: Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)
Stilt Sandpiper Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: Dagger
  • Eye Color: Dark brown.
  • Head Pattern: Eyeline, Capped, Streaked
  • Crown Color: Gray-brown
  • Forehead Color: Gray-brown
  • Nape Color: White with gray-brown streaking.
  • Throat Color: White with gray-brown streaking.
  • Cere color: No Data
Stilt Sandpiper Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 19-22 cm (7.5-8.5 in)
  • Weight: 60 g (2.1 oz)
  • Size: Size 2. Small (5 - 9 in)
  • Color: White, Brown, Black, Rufous or Rust
  • Underparts: White with gray-brown barring.
  • Upperparts: Gray-brown with some black and buff mottling.
  • Back Pattern: Scaled or Scalloped
  • Belly Pattern: Barred or banded
  • Breast Pattern: Barred or banded
Stilt Sandpiper Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Strong direct flight with powerful rapid wing beats.
  • Wingspan Range: 38-43 cm (15-17 in)
  • Wing Shape: Tapered-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Pointed Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Barred
  • Upper Tail: White with gray-brown barring.
  • Under Tail: White with gray-brown barring.
  • Leg Color: Yellow-green
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Family Sandpiper (Scolopacidae)_blue
Species Calidris himantopus
Length7.5 - 8.5 Inches
Wingspan16 Inches

Stilt Sandpiper

Stilt Sandpiper: Medium sandpiper with gray-brown upperparts, white rump, heavily barred white underparts. Head has a dark cap, white eyebrows, and brown ear patches. Bill is long, black, and curved down at tip. Legs are long and gray-green. Powerful, direct flight on long, rapidly beating wings.

● Song: "querp"

● Foraging & Feeding: Stilt Sandpiper: Feeds on insects, small snails, and small seeds; forages by probing in soft mud on mudflats or while wading in shallow water.

● Breeding & nesting: Stilt Sandpiper: Four cream, pale green or olive eggs spotted with brown are laid in a ground nest made of grass and built in a relatively open area on dry tundra; occasionally nests next to a shrub. Incubation ranges from 19 to 21 days and is carried out by both parents. Young fly at 17 to 18 days.

● Similar species: Stilt Sandpiper: Dowitchers have longer, straighter bills. Yellowlegs have brighter yellow legs and straight bills. Dunlins and Curlew Sandpipers have dark legs and thinner bills; Dunlin also has a dark rump.

Flight Pattern

Strong direct flight with powerful rapid wing beats.
Stilt Sandpiper Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Stilt Sandpiper: Breeds from northeastern Alaska to northeastern Manitoba and northernmost Ontario. Spends winters in South America and casually north to Florida and southern California. Preferred habitats include sedge meadows interrupted by old beach ridges, eskers, or other elevated areas dominated by dwarf birch, heaths, willows, crowberries, and dryads.
BreedingMonogamous
Population
MigrationMigratory
Weight2.1 Ounces