Bird Album
Broad-billed Sandpiper
Calidris falcinellus (Pontoppidan, 1763)
≈18 cmLength37 cmWingspan37 gWeight
This small sandpiper has a fairly long, straight bill with a sharply decurved tip and a split supercilium.
Busiest months: April–May · Most records: China, Thailand, Israel
Looks like Dunlin
How to identify
Field marks
- Bill long and straight, with a decurved tip
- Pale stripes on the crown; supercilium split
- Legs and feet shorter than Dunlin's
- Upperparts dark brown in summer plumage; breast with black markings
Male, female and young
Juvenile has white flanks and belly, with rufous stripes on the breast.
Voice
A dry, whistling “dree-it, dree-it”, also a clicking “dik dik”.
Similar species
Where and when it's recorded
Broad-billed Sandpiper has been recorded at 719 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 80 countries and regions.
Records by month Northern Hemisphere
To protect this bird from disturbance, we don't list exact sites.
Countries and regions with the most records
eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.
About
The broad-billed sandpiper (Calidris falcinellus) is a small wader. The scientific specific name falcinellus is the diminutive from Latin falx, falcis, "a small sickle". It was formerly treated in its own monospecific genus Limicola, but this was found to be embedded within the wider genus Calidris, into which it was transferred in 2004.
Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia
Questions
How big is the Broad-billed Sandpiper?
The Broad-billed Sandpiper is about ≈18 cm long, with a wingspan of 37 cm and weighs around 37 g.
Where does the Broad-billed Sandpiper live?
Its breeding range: Palearctic: patchily in low Arctic to subarctic tundra bogs of northern Palearctic: Scandinavia to Kanin Peninsula (northwestern Russia); Taimyr Peninsula (northwestern Siberia) and Lena to Kolyma rivers (northeastern Siberia). It is most often recorded in China, Thailand and Israel.
When is the best time to see the Broad-billed Sandpiper?
At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in April and May (Northern Hemisphere).
Is the Broad-billed Sandpiper endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Broad-billed Sandpiper as Vulnerable.
What does the Broad-billed Sandpiper eat?
Main food: Fish, shrimp & shellfish.
What family is the Broad-billed Sandpiper in?
It belongs to the family Sandpipers, Snipes (Scolopacidae), order Charadriiformes.
At a glance
- Length
- ≈18 cm
- Wingspan
- 37 cm
- Weight
- 37 g
- Habitat
- Wetland
- Diet
- Fish, shrimp & shellfish
- Lifestyle
- Active on the ground
- Migration
- Migratory
- Conservation
- Vulnerable
More measurements
- Wing
- 99 mm
- Tail
- 37 mm
- Bill
- 33 mm
- Tarsus
- 21 mm
Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.
Range
Palearctic: patchily in low Arctic to subarctic tundra bogs of northern Palearctic: Scandinavia to Kanin Peninsula (northwestern Russia); Taimyr Peninsula (northwestern Siberia) and Lena to Kolyma rivers (northeastern Siberia)
Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2
Classification
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Sandpipers, Snipes Scolopacidae
- Genus
- Calidris
Other birds in the genus Calidris
Great KnotCalidris tenuirostris
Red KnotCalidris canutus
SurfbirdCalidris virgata
RuffCalidris pugnax
Sharp-tailed SandpiperCalidris acuminata
Stilt SandpiperCalidris himantopus
Curlew SandpiperCalidris ferruginea
Temminck's StintCalidris temminckii
Long-toed StintCalidris subminuta
Red-necked StintCalidris ruficollis
Spoon-billed SandpiperCalidris pygmaea
Buff-breasted SandpiperCalidris subruficollis
Download illustration
Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Sreedev Puthur. ↗
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