The broad-billed sandpiper (Calidris falcinellus) is a small wadingbird. The scientific name is from Latin; the specific name falcinellus is the diminutive from falx, falcis, "a small sickle".[2] It was formerly treated in its own monospecific genus Limicola,[3] but this was found to be embedded within the wider genus Calidris, into which it was transferred in 2004.[4]
Calidris falcinellus falcinellus – breeds northern Scandinavia, northwest Russia; winters east Africa, Middle East, India
Calidris falcinellus sibirica – breeds central and eastern Siberia; winters southeast Asia
Description
Adult C. f. sibirica on spring migration, Taiwan
Broad-billed sandpipers are small waders, 16–18cm long, slightly smaller than dunlin but larger than little stint; it has a longer, straighter bill with the tip distinctly kinked down, and shorter legs than dunlin. The breeding adult has dark brown upperparts patterned with narrow pale feather fringes, and white underparts with blackish markings on the breast. It has a pale crown stripe, and a distinctive double ('split') supercilium.[3][7][8] As its English name suggests, the bill is slightly broader than in most other Calidris, but this 'museum name' characteristic is rarely evident in the field.[7] The two subspecies differ in the summer plumage feather fringing, narrow and white in C. f. falcinellus, brighter and rufous-toned in C. f. sibirica.[7]
The winter plumage is much paler and greyer above and white below, like a winter dunlin, but retaining the distinct head pattern. Juveniles have backs similar to young dunlin or young little stint with pale "tramlines" down the mantle, but the white flanks and belly and brown-streaked breast are distinctive.[3][8]
The contact call is a dry, whistling "dree-it, dree-it" and a clicking "dik dik", similar to little stint.[3]
The broad-billed sandpiper is strongly migratory, spending the non-breeding season from easternmost Africa, through south and south-east Asia to Australasia. It is gregarious, and will form flocks with other scolopacid waders, particularly dunlins. Despite its European breeding range, this species is rare on passage in western Europe, due to its south-easterly migration route.[3]
This bird's breeding habitat is wet taiga bogs in Arctic northern Scandinavia and Siberia, in two disjunct regions, representing the two subspecies. The male performs an aerial display during courtship. They nest in a ground scrape, laying 4 eggs.
They forage in soft mud on marshes in the summer and on coasts in winter, mainly picking up food by sight. They mostly eat insects and other small invertebrates.
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