Least ConcernDunlin
Calidris alpina
59 countries38 parks
Species group · Birds
WAnimals has 3 species of sandpiper, in the family Scolopacidae.
Ranges calculated from the profiles that record the figure, not from all 3.
Each one has its own full profile. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.
No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.
Recorded in 75 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:
It is nicknamed the "sewing machine" for the rapid bobbing of its head as it probes the mud.
From
It forms winter flocks of tens of thousands of birds that wheel in unison in mid-flight.
From
One marked individual reached a record age of 24-28.8 years.
From
In the Bay of Fundy it doubles its weight in two weeks feeding on a single tiny mud-dwelling crustacean, and on that fat it undertakes a non-stop flight of more than four thousand kilometres over the Atlantic to South America.
From
Its migrating flocks wheel in unison, flashing alternately their dark backs and pale bellies, a synchronised shimmer of tens of thousands of birds that disorientates peregrine falcons.
From
Its population has fallen markedly over recent decades, and much of the decline is put down to the degradation of the few stopover wetlands along its route.
From
It is the only sandpiper without a hind toe, which is where its Spanish name comes from: it has only three toes, an adaptation to running on firm sand.
From
·
It chases the backwash of each wave with astonishing precision, making use of the seconds in which the sand is saturated and the invertebrates are within reach near the surface.
From
