Distinguishing Characteristics

Juvenile Least Sandpiper; New York, September

Adult Least Sandpiper, breeding plumage; NY State, May

Juvenile Least Sandpiper; NY State, August

Small sandpiper; 130–150 mm in length, 19–30 g body mass. Neck short, bill short and thin, legs usually yellowish green; wings shortest of all stints (small species in the genus Calidris; see Paulson 1993: 222, 239 for discussion of common names used for this genus), barely extending beyond tail.

Following from Veit and Jonsson (1984) and especially Paulson (1993). Adults and juveniles usually identifiable at close range under most circumstances. In all plumages, distinguished from other common North American stints (e.g., Semipalmated [Calidris pusilla] and Western [C. mauri] sandpipers) by overall browner (darker) appearance, smaller size and shorter legs, shorter bill, and yellowish legs (but mud may hide color). Most likely to be confused with Temminck’s (C. temminckii) or Long-toed (C. subminuta) stints because of their yellowish legs, but these species are unusual vagrants in North America. Tail of Temminck’s Stint noticeably longer than that of Least Sandpiper, with white (not gray) outer feathers; rump of Least Sandpiper darker than that of Temminck’s. Long-toed Stint very similar to Least Sandpiper, especially in nonbreeding and Juvenal plumages; suite of factors needed to separate them, although striped mantle of Long-toed Stint often contrasts with scalloped mantle of Least Sandpiper (see detailed discussion in Paulson 1993).

In flight, smaller and darker than Western Sandpiper, with which it often flocks; both species appear to have similar wing stripe; flights of Least Sandpiper tend to be shorter, weaker, with more fluttery wingbeats. Voice (flight call) “high-pitched, clearly two-syllabled or slightly rolled kree-eeet, quite different from the Western’s squeak and the Semipalmated’s short single note” (Paulson 1993).

Although a relatively abundant shorebird, tends to occur in flocks of dozens or hundreds, rather than thousands. Also tends to forage more at upper edge of mudflats or along drier margins of inland ponds than other Calidris.