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Long-toed Stint
(Calidris subminuta)
Size: 13-16 cm; wing span 26.5-30.5 cm
Weight: 20-32 g
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Similar
species |
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Physical description |
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 Click here for a physical description
Long-toed Stints are very small waders.
Their plumage
is highly cryptic.
During the
non-breeding season they are all grey and white, with
only the faintest hue of chestnut on their crown. The head, apart
from inconspicuous, near-white eyebrows, is brownish-grey streaked
with light-grey or white. The front, from throat to undertail
coverts, is white. The nape of the neck is grey; the rest of the
back is grey, with darker-grey wide centres on the feathers
and light-grey to white edge lining, giving the plumage a "shingled" look.
During the breeding
season the crown is streaked white-grey/rufous. The ear coverts
are also rufous, while the rest of the head, apart from white
supercilia, is light-grey, with darker-grey streaking.
Apart from dark-grey and rufous streaking on chest and flanks,
the front is white. The back is conspicuously shingled. The
feathers have a dark-grey centre, rufous sides and light-grey
tips/edges.
The eyes have dark irises. The dark-grey bill is straight and a
bit shorter than the size of the head. Of the small stints, the
Long-toed is the only one with yellowish legs and feet which,
in addition, have particularly long toes.
In flight these toes protrude beyond the tip of the tail.
Juveniles
have a chestnut crown with heavy dark-brown streaking,
dark eye stripes and prominent white eyebrows.
The flanks and neck are streaked grey and white. The front
is white, as the adults', but the back has higher colour contrast
between dark-grey base and light edge lining than adult
breeding
plumage.
The correct identification of waders ("shorebirds"), e.g. of the
Calidris, Tringa, Actitis and
related families or of the Charadrius, Pluvialis and related genera
in the field can be quite tricky. We have therefore made an attempt to
give some advice HERE.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Long-toed
Stint at Wikipedia  .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and
specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found,
based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
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The global distribution of the Long-toed Stint is available
HERE
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Long-toed Stints are a highly migratory species. Their
breeding grounds are located in Siberia. Most migrate
southward to China, Indochina, Malaysia and the Philippines,
while others overwinter in the region from Bangladesh to
Nepal and Burma, including islands such as the Maldives
and Sri Lanka.
Some migrate further, to New Guinea and Australia.
A few vagrants also make their way towards Europe, South
Africa, Hawaii or across the Bering Sea to the North-west
of the North-American continent.
Long-toed Stints are non-breeding migrants to Australia from
the North.
Their distribution in Australia is unusual. There are very few
reports from the densely populated East coast of the continent,
making it very unlikely that many arrive along the Torres Strait.
Instead, most Long-toed Stints appear to arrive in
Australia in an area ranging from the North coast of WA in
the West to Darwin, NT, in the East, by crossing the Timor
Sea.
From there a significant number travel down the West coast,
to about Esperance, WA, in the South, with some sightings also
along the major rivers in the Pilbara in north-western WA.
Another part of the migrants arriving in the North-west appear
to travel inland in a south-easterly direction from the Kimberley
coastline towards the Red Centre. Probably THEY continue to
the South-east of the continent, with sightings from about
Eyre peninsula, SA, in the West to most of VIC and the Murray
catchment in southern NSW. There are also reports from the
East coast, from near the NSW/VIC border in the South to
near Brisbane, QLD, in the North (but NOT farther northward in
QLD).
Outside their breeding season, Long-toed Stints can be found
in a variety of aquatic habitats around fresh and brackish
water, both in coastal areas and inland, such as
freshwater lakes,
including
ephemeral lakes,
lagoons,
saltmarshes or
coastal intertidal
wetlands, including
mudflats.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
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Photos |
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ADULT |
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NON-BREEDING |
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Lateral view of a Long-toed Stint in non-breeding
plumage
hunkered down in wheat chaff
(photo courtesy of C. Rehberg | Sydney Birding)
[Goran Lake, near Gunnedah, NSW, February 2022]
Lateral view of a Long-toed Stint in non-breeding
plumage
spreading its wings while hunkered down in wheat chaff
(photo courtesy of C. Rehberg | Sydney Birding)
[Goran Lake, near Gunnedah, NSW, February 2022]
Lateral view of a Long-toed Stint in
non-breeding plumage
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[G. J. Fuller Oval Lagoon, Wynnum, Brisbane, QLD, January 2019]
Lateral view of a Long-toed Stint in
non-breeding plumage
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[G. J. Fuller Oval Lagoon, Wynnum, Brisbane, QLD, January 2019]
Lateral view of a Long-toed Stint in
non-breeding plumage
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[G. J. Fuller Oval Lagoon, Wynnum, Brisbane, QLD, January 2019]
Near-dorsal/ventral view of a Long-toed Stint in non-breeding
plumage;
note the yellowish legs and clean-white vent/undertail coverts
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[G. J. Fuller Oval Lagoon, Wynnum, Brisbane, QLD, January 2019]
Lateral view of a Long-toed Stint in non-breeding
plumage
in comparison with a
Red-necked Stint
(photo courtesy of C. Rehberg | Sydney Birding)
[Goran Lake, near Gunnedah, NSW, February 2022]
Lateral view of a Long-toed Stint in non-breeding
plumage
in comparison with a
Red-capped Plover
(photo courtesy of C. Rehberg | Sydney Birding)
[Goran Lake, near Gunnedah, NSW, February 2022]
Lateral view of a Long-toed Stint in
non-breeding plumage
in comparison with a
Dusky Moorhen
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[G. J. Fuller Oval Lagoon, Wynnum, Brisbane, QLD, January 2019]
Lateral view of a Long-toed Stint in
non-breeding plumage
in comparison with a
Pied Stilt
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[G. J. Fuller Oval Lagoon, Wynnum, Brisbane, QLD, January 2019]
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors.
The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.
Breeding
Nest
Eggs
Behaviour
Food
Call/s
