Little Stint

Calidris minuta (Leisler, 1812)

≈15 cmLength36 cmWingspan21 gWeight

This very small wader has a slender bill and dark legs and feet, and moves faster than most waders.

Busiest months: September · Most records: Spain, Israel, India

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Bill long, slender and dark; legs and feet dark
Long primary projection; toes without webbing
Breast orange and throat white in the breeding season
White V-shaped marking on the back in the breeding season

Male, female and young

Juvenile has pale stripes on the crown and a pinkish breast.

Voice

A sharp “stit”.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: September · Most records: Spain, Israel, India

Little Stint has been recorded at 1,731 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 133 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

International Birding and Research Center Eilat (IBRCE)Israel4,768 records
Eilat – KM20 Flamingo Pools 20Israel3,613 records
Private estate near Green MubazzarahUnited Arab Emirates2,549 records

More places

Paul do Cabo da PraiaPortugal1,752 records
Titchwell Marsh RSPB ReserveUnited Kingdom1,649 records
Desembocadura del Guadalhorce – ÁreaSpain1,430 records
Frampton Marsh RSPB ReserveUnited Kingdom1,374 records
Cley & Salthouse Marshes NWT NR – Cley Marshes including Hides and Visitor CentreUnited Kingdom1,330 records
L'Albufera PNat – El Raco de l'OllaSpain1,189 records
Hama'apil FishpondsIsrael1,179 records

Countries and regions with the most records

Spain Israel India United Kingdom Portugal United Arab Emirates South Africa Kenya

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 little stint (Calidris minuta) is a very small wader. It breeds in arctic Europe and Asia, and is a long-distance migrant, wintering south to Africa and south Asia. It occasionally is a vagrant to North America and to Australia.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Little Stint?

The Little Stint is about ≈15 cm long, with a wingspan of 36 cm and weighs around 21 g.

Where does the Little Stint live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic: high to low Arctic drier tundra of northern Palearctic: far northern Scandinavia, White Sea coast, southern Novaya Zemlya, through northern Russia to New Siberian Islands (east-central Siberia). It is most often recorded in Spain, Israel and India.

When is the best time to see the Little Stint?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in September (Northern Hemisphere).

Is the Little Stint endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Little Stint as Least Concern.

What does the Little Stint eat?

Main food: Fish, shrimp & shellfish.

What family is the Little Stint in?

It belongs to the family Sandpipers, Snipes (Scolopacidae), order Charadriiformes.

At a glance

Length: ≈15 cm
Wingspan: 36 cm
Weight: 21 g
Habitat: Grassland
Diet: Fish, shrimp & shellfish
Lifestyle: Active on the ground
Migration: Migratory
Conservation: Least Concern

More measurements

Wing: 93 mm
Tail: 36 mm
Bill: 20 mm
Tarsus: 22 mm

Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.

Range

Palearctic: high to low Arctic drier tundra of northern Palearctic: far northern Scandinavia, White Sea coast, southern Novaya Zemlya, through northern Russia to New Siberian Islands (east-central Siberia)

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2