Dunlin
Calidris alpina
Small, plump shorebird with droopy bill. Breeding plumage is distinctive with rufous or brown back and black belly. In fall and winter, plain grayish-brown above with white belly. Often in large flocks on mudflats and beaches, sometimes mixing with other shorebirds. Breeds on Arctic tundra; winters on coastlines throughout the Northern Hemisphere; typically less common inland. A late migrant, especially in fall; lingers longer at higher latitudes than most other small shorebirds. Very similar to Curlew Sandpiper in nonbreeding plumage, but Dunlin is more compact, shorter-winged and shorter-legged, and darker. Droopy bill might recall Western Sandpiper, but Dunlin is larger and darker. Also compare with Purple Sandpiper, which is even darker and more spotted and has orange legs. Listen for loud, slightly buzzy “dzeer!” calls.
Identification
Measurements:<p>An adult dunlin in breeding plumage shows the distinctive black belly which no other similar-sized wader possesses. The winter dunlin is basically grey above and white below. Juveniles are brown above with two whitish "V" shapes on the back. They usually have black marks on the flanks or belly and show a strong white wingbar in flight. The legs and slightly decurved bill are black. There are a number of subspecies differing mainly in the extent of rufous colouration in the breeding plumage and the bill length. Bill length varies between sexes, the females having longer bills than the males. On the tip of the Dunlin's bill is a soft covering that fills with blood and with many nerve endings, forming a sensitive probe that is used to locate invertebrate prey in mud and sand. Although the bill can look sharp-pointed in dead specimens, in life it is blunt.<p>The call is a typical sandpiper "peep", and the display song a harsh trill.
Taxonomy
The dunlin was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tringa alpina. Linnaeus specified the location as Lapland. This species was formerly placed in the genus Erolia, but is now placed with 23 other sandpipers in the genus Calidris that was introduced in 1804 by the German naturalist Blasius Merrem. The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific alpina is from Latin and means "of high mountains", in this case referring to the Alps.<p>Ten subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Calidris alpina
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Scolopacidae
- Genus
- Calidris
Range and habitat
Dunlin are small migratory waders, however they show strong philopatry with individuals of the Southern Dunlin (Calidris alpina schinzii) in Sweden and Finland returning to, or very close to, their natal patches. Habitat fragmentation has reduced the availability of habitat patches to these birds through reducing patch size and increasing patch isolation. This reduced connectivity between patches has reduced the movements of Dunlin leaving them more susceptible to inbreeding in these locations.
- Breeding range
- NA, PAL : low (locally high) Arctic to temperate wet tundra of Holarctic: sw to ne Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Is., n British Is., Scandinavia, Baltic states e through n Russia including Novaya Zemlya (n of nw Siberia) and New Siberian Is. (n of ec Russia), through Chukotskiy Pen., w Kamchatka, n Kurile and n Sakhalin is. (e Russia); Aleutian Is., w, n Alaska, nw Canada, nc Canada n and w of Hudson Bay
- Non-breeding range
- s NA, AF, s PAL : coastal and inland wetlands from temperate to tropical zones n of Equator: British Is., w Europe, Mediterranean, n, nc Africa, Middle East, n Indian subcontinent to n Vietnam and e China, Taiwan, Korean Pen. and Japan (except n); sw Canada and New England to wc Mexico and Yucatan Pen.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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