The little stint is a very small wader. It breeds in arctic Europe and Asia, and is a long-distance migrant, wintering south to Africa and south Asia. It occasionally is a vagrant to North America and to Australia. The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific minuta is Latin for "small.
Region
Eurasian Arctic (breeding); Africa and South Asia (wintering)
Typical Environment
Breeds on wet tundra across Arctic Europe and Asia, especially in northern Scandinavia and Siberia. During migration and winter it frequents coastal mudflats, estuaries, saline lagoons, and inland wetlands across the Mediterranean, Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia. It occurs widely along major flyways and is a regular passage migrant around the Black Sea and Persian Gulf. Vagrants reach Australia and occasionally North America. On the breeding grounds it favors moist tundra with shallow pools and mossy hummocks.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 3000 m
Climate Zone
Other
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The little stint is one of the smallest sandpipers, famous for epic migrations from the high Arctic to Africa and South Asia. In breeding plumage it shows rich rufous tones on the back, transforming to a subtle grey-brown in winter. It often forages in tight, fast-moving flocks that wheel over mudflats in synchronized flight. It can be tricky to separate from similar small stints, requiring careful attention to size, bill shape, and plumage details.
Little stint (on the left) and dunlin in September at the mouth of the Reda river in Puck Bay in Poland. Both birds are juveniles.
Temperament
social and active
Flight Pattern
fast, agile flight with rapid wingbeats; flocks wheel tightly over water
Social Behavior
Highly gregarious outside the breeding season, forming large mixed-species flocks on mudflats and roosts. Nests on the ground in a shallow scrape on Arctic tundra, typically with 3–4 eggs. Both parents usually share incubation and brood care. After breeding, birds depart rapidly to staging areas before continuing to wintering grounds.
Migratory Pattern
Seasonal migrant
Song Description
Calls are high, thin trills and sharp ‘stit’ notes given in flight or while foraging. Display flights on the breeding grounds include a light, twittering series of notes. Vocalizations are subtle and easily lost in the noise of mixed wader flocks.
