Little Stint

Overview

Little Stint: Medium sandpiper, scaled-brown upperparts, white underparts. Face, neck, breast are rust-brown with black spots. The back has white lines that form a V pattern in flight. Black bill, legs, feet. Feeds by pecking at surface and probing mud with bill. Direct flight with rapid wing beats.

Range and Habitat

Little Stint: Eurasian species. Breeds from Norway to Russian border, winters in Saharan Africa and India; also reported from Canada. Breeds on coastal and island tundra, often with willow scrub; found on sandy beaches, mudflats, and estuaries during winter.

INTERESTING FACTS

The numbers of the Little Stint depend on the population of lemmings.
In poor lemming years, predatory species such as skuas and Snowy Owls will take these birds instead.
The male and female may incubate separate clutches.
A group of stints are collectively known as a "spell" of stints.

The Little Stint has a large range, estimated globally at 100,000 to 1,000,000 square kilometers. Native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, and introduced to the United States, this bird prefers grassland, wetland, and marine ecosystems and can reside in ponds and irrigated land. The global population of this bird is estimated at 1,400,000 individuals and does not show signs of decline that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status of the Little Stint is Least Concern.