Texas
Least Sandpiper
Calidris minutilla
(L 6" WS 13" Wt 0.7 oz)
Smallest shorebird...often
found in small flocks...like
to forage in mudflats.
South Padre Island
Birding & Nature Ctr
15Apr2010
Slightly drooped bill.
© Gerrit Vyn
Macaulay
Library
© BirdNote,
Interview by
Todd Peterson
© Wikipedia
Calidris in Greek is a gray-
colored waterbird mentioned
by Aristotle;
minutilla in
Latin means
very small,
insignificant.
South Padre Island
19Apr2021
Least sandpipers no bigger than
sparrows…like little, buffy windup
toys…fly nearly 4,000 miles—in a
single, nonstop flight.
(Scott Weidensaul)