|
Least Sandpiper |
|
Calidris minutilla |
| Description: 5 1/2 - 6" smallest American shorebird, brownish above, with yellow to greenish legs, short thin downward curved bill, streaked breast, grayer in winter, summer: dark brown back, breast has dark streaks ending abruptly at white belly | Habitat: Nests on subarctic tundra. In winter on wet muddy areas, grassy areas, wet short grasses of salt marshes, tidal flats, sloughs, muddy lake shores, muddy margins of brackish ponds and creeks, also on sandy or gravel beaches. Tame |
| Nesting: 4 pinkish buff-colored eggs in a dry hummock or dry upland habitat | Range: breeds from Alaska, Canada, winters across Oregon to southeast US |
| Voice: a clear tweep and often when feeding a soft chuckle | Diet: insects, aquatic invertebrates, seeds, also crustaceans, worms, mollusks |
| Notes: most likely the tamest of shorebirds, tiny birds, extremely rapid wing beats and zigzag flight. |
| When present in Oklahoma: seen during spring and fall migration, not thought to be resident bird |