Scientific name: Calidris minuta (Leisler, 1812)
Bird group: Waders
Field characters. 14 cm. Smallest of European waders; resembles Temminck's Stint (see that species) and Sanderling (which is larger, lacks hind toe and much paler in winter plumage). In summer, upperparts and crown are rufous, mottled black; supercilium and underparts white with streaked sides of breast; legs black. Adults in winter with mouse-grey upperparts and whiter underparts. Juveniles resemble pale summer adult with two pale-coloured "V"s on back. Flight swift, with instant take-off and rapid wing-beats; does not "tower" when flushed.
Voice. Common note is a monosyllabic "chit", repeated three times.
Distribution. Breeds irregularly on tundra of N Norway and N Russia. Passage migrant in most of Europe, mainly in autumn; occasionally winters north to Great Britain.
Habitat. Breeds in tundra marshes and on coastal tundra; on migration on saline mudflats and on muddy shores of inland waters.
Food. Picks food items up from surface. Feeds mainly on arthropods and their larvae, but also takes worms, small molluscs, and some plant material.