Little Stint

Calidris minuta

Smaller than a sparrow, yet flies from Siberia to South Africa. Your message is a featherweight on a heavy schedule.

Population: Approximately 1.4-1.5 million individuals globally (2006 estimate cited by BirdLife International/Wetlands International); considered stable
Habitat: Breeds on low-lying Arctic tundra, especially dry grassy/mossy ground near wetlands; on migration and in winter uses coastal mudflats, estuaries, tidal creeks/coastal lagoons, salt pans, and inland lake/river shores
Fun fact: Little Stint breeding success is tied to Arctic lemming cycles: in years when lemmings are scarce, predators like skuas and snowy owls turn to hunting stint eggs and chicks instead, driving big swings in annual productivity.
Range: Breeds across arctic Europe and Siberia (northern Scandinavia through Novaya Zemlya, NW/NC Siberia to the New Siberian Islands); a long-distance migrant wintering in sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Indian subcontinent, with occasional vagrants reaching North America and Australia
Diet: Small invertebrates picked from mud and shallow water — midge (chironomid) and other fly larvae/adults, small beetles, ants, water-bugs, worms and mollusks; chicks feed heavily on Diptera larvae
Size: 0.13 m
Wingspan: 0.295 m
Lifespan: 14.7 years

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