Stilt Sandpiper
Calidris himantopus
Also known as: Pond Bird
Habitat
Aquatic
Diet
Invertebrate
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
57 g
About This Species
A slim, long-legged wading bird that probes deep in shallow mudflats and flooded fields with a distinctive up-and-down feeding motion, recalling a sewing machine. It breeds on Arctic tundra and winters in wetlands across the Americas, so look for it on migration in spring and autumn at coastal lagoons and inland marshes. Mixed flocks with other sandpipers are a good place to spot it.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Keep well back from feeding or roosting flocks and use a scope rather than walking out onto mudflats, since flushing waders during migration forces them to burn fat reserves needed for onward travel.
- As a Near Threatened species reliant on a network of stopover wetlands, disturbance at any one site can have knock-on effects elsewhere on its migration.
- Wetland protection laws vary by country, so stick to marked paths and hides where they exist.
NTAvesCharadriiformesScolopacidae
Seasonal Activity
350,826 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Scolopacidae
Traits
- Diet
- Invertebrate
- Foraging
- Aquatic
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 57 g
Photo
(c) NoNiSs, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by NoNiSs
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.