Least Sandpiper

Least Sandpiper, adult, breeding plumage

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Least Sandpiper, adult, nonbreeding plumage

Least Sandpiper, juvenile

Least Sandpiper, juvenile (Juvenal plumage); Jamaica Bay, NY; August

Least Sandpiper, breeding adult (Def. Alternate plumage); Long Is., NY, May

Least Sandpiper, breeding adult (Def. Alternate plumage); Long Is., NY; September

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Reproduction
8. Conservation Status
9. Other Names

A common small shorebird, the Least Sandpiper can be found in migration all across North America. It can be readily identified by its small size and yellow legs.

Cool Facts

• The Least Sandpiper is the smallest shorebird in the world.

• Although it is a relatively numerous shorebird, the Least Sandpiper tends to occur in flocks of dozens or hundreds, rather than thousands like some other sandpipers. It also tends to forage at the upper edge of mudflats or along drier margins of inland ponds than other related small sandpipers.

Description

• Size: 13-15 cm (5-6 in)
• Wingspan: 27-28 cm (11-11 in)
• Weight: 19-30 g (0.67-1.06 ounces)

Small sandpiper. Short neck. Moderately long bill, may droop slightly at tip. Moderately long legs. Black center of rump and tail. Legs yellowish. Back reddish with black spots. Two thin white lines down back. Chest usually only well marked with rather distinct chest band.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Immature

Juvenile similar to adult, but with more scaly pattern on back.

Similar Species

• Semipalmated Sandpiper similar, but more gray on back, less marked on chest, and with black legs.
• Western Sandpiper less marked on chest, and with black legs.

Sound

Call a short "creep," or "cree,et."

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

About the map

Summer Range

Breeds throughout Alaska and northern Canada eastward to Newfoundland.

Winter Range

Winters from Oregon and New Jersey southward to central South America.

Habitat

Breeds in mossy or wet grassy tundra, occasionally in drier areas with scattered scrubby bushes. Migrates and winters in wet meadows, mudflats, flooded fields, shores of pools and lakes, and, less frequently, sandy beaches.

Reproduction

Clutch Size

Condition at Hatching

Active and covered with down.

Conservation Status

Common. Populations appear stable.

Other Names

Bécasseau minuscule (French)
Correlimos menudo, Minutilla blanca, Playero (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Cooper, J. M. 1994. Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla). In The Birds of North America, No. 115 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists? Union.