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Temminck's Stint
(Calidris temminckii)
 German name(s): "Temminckstrandläufer"
Size: 13-15 cm; wing span 34-37 cm
Weight: 15-35 g
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Physical description |
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 Click here for a physical description
Temminck's Stints are very small waders.
Their plumage
is highly cryptic.
During the non-breeding season they are all grey and white.
The head, neck and chest are almost all-grey, except for a
pale eye-ring and small pale spots on the frons. The front
(belly, vent, undertail coverts) is white. The back is grey;
only the wing feathers show a chestnut hue and have thin
central dark stripes.
During the
breeding
season the head, neck, chest and back all
take on a chestnut-brown base, with striation on the head and
chest and scalloping on the back. The lower front remains white.
The eyes have dark irises. The dark-grey bill is slightly downcurved
and a bit shorter than the size of the head. The legs and feet are
yellow-olive. In flight the feet protrude slightly beyond the
tail.
Juvenile
Temminck's Stints have a white front, from the throat down to the
undertail coverts. The rest of the plumage is similar to non-breeding
adults.
The correct identification of waders ("shorebirds"), e.g. of the
Calidris, Tringa, Actitis etc.
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 Temminck's
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 Temminck's Stint is available
HERE
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Temminck's Stint are a strongly migratory species.
They breed in a wide area from subarctic northern Scandinavia
eastward all the way through northern Asia (to about 80 degrees
latitude) to the Bering Sea and the northern base of the
Kamchatka peninsula.
They spend the northern winters in more southern areas. A
small number stay in isolated areas around the Mediterranean,
mostly in Spain, southern Sardinia, Italy and Greece, but
also Tunisia, while most migrate to the Nile river valley
and tropical sub-Saharan Africa and the eastern highlands.
Others spend the winters in the Euphrates/Tigris lowlands,
parts of southern Iran and around the Arabian peninsula.
A large part of the population migrates to southern Asia,
from the border of Pakistan with India eastwards, in a
broad near-coastal strip around the entire subcontinent,
into the Ganges river system in Bangladesh, and on into
much of South-east Asia, including Taiwan and the southern
half of Borneo.
Temminck's Stints are summer breeding migrants to northern
Scandinavia (coastal northern Norway, the northernmost tip
of the Baltic Sea, the Kola peninsula) and northern European
Russia.
In Europe there are only a few winter quarters of Temminck's
Stints along the Mediterranean coastline from south-eastern
Spain via parts of Sardinia and Sicily, the lower Po river
valley and parts of the Apulian coastline to some spots
along the Greek coastline.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
M. Eaton reports spotting a Temminck's Stint
near Tromso airport, Tromso, Norway, in June 2018.
D. Wilczynska reports finding a Temminck's Stint along the river
Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, in July 2019.
A Temminck's Stint has also been seen by us in
Oman.
Click here for sighting information from Oman
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Photos |
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ADULT |
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BREEDING |
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Frontal view of a Temminck's Stint in breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, July 2019]
Near-frontal view of a Temminck's Stint in breeding
plumage
resting on one leg (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Tromso airport, Tromso, Norway, June 2018]
Near-lateral view of a Temminck's Stint in breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, July 2019]
Lateral view of a Temminck's Stint in breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, July 2019]
Lateral view of a Temminck's Stint in breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, July 2019]
Near-dorsal view of a wader that, if correctly identified,
is a very light-coloured variant of a Temminck's Stint in breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Tromso airport, Tromso, Norway, June 2018]
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IMMATURE/JUVENILE |
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We have not seen a juvenile bird in Europe yet, but
a photo is available from
Oman.
Click here for photos from Oman
Near-dorsal view of a Temminck's Stint making the rounds of a pond;
despite the inconspicuous eye-ring, this is probably a first-winter
immature bird
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, September 2009]
Dorsal view of a resting Temminck's Stint looking backwards
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, September 2009]
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.
Distribution
Breeding
Nest
Eggs
Behaviour
Food
Call/s
