Scientific name: Calidris ferruginea (Pontoppidan, 1763)
Bird group: Waders
Field characters. 18 cm. Head, neck, upperparts, and underparts backwards down to vent deep rufous; crown and upperparts richly streaked with black, chest and flanks sometimes lightly barred with white. Vent and rump white. Female slightly paler and less uniform in overall appearance, and with black bars on flanks. Long legs and down-curved bill black. In winter upperparts dusky-grey and underparts almost pure white, with some streaking on sides of chest; streaking on crown and upperparts more conspicuous. Winter adult strongly resembles Dunlin in winter, but can be distinguished by different call and more horizontal carriage, pure white rump and more prominent supercilium. Juvenile resembles winter adult, but has more dusky-brown scaled upperparts, more prominently streaked chest and peach-coloured wash on belly and flanks. On passage it associates commonly with Dunlin.
Voice. In flight, a twittering soft "chirrup".
Distribution. Locally common passage migrant in some years; winters occasionally in northern Britain.
Habitat. Breeds in well-vegetated tundra marshes; on passage, prefers silky tidal beaches, estuaries, or inlands and shallows.
Food. Mainly invertebrates, like Dunlin, but more often obtained by probing in relatively deeper water.