Dunlin (Calidris alpina)

Description: Dunlins have a round body with long black legs and a slender black beak. Their non-breeding plumage is a white belly with a tan to light brown back. Their chest is a speckled mix of both colors. Dunlins have a distinct elongated beak that curves down. This feature can be used to distinguish them from other shore birds. Like other sandpiper relatives, dunlins tend to fly and forage in groups along shorelines.

Habitat: Dunlins breed in Northern Alaska and along the Western region of Hudson Bay. During the winter (non-breeding season), dunlins range from Southern Alaska to Nayarit State, Mexico on the Pacific Ocean and Massachusetts to the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico on the Atlantic Ocean.

Nesting: Male dunlins choose a nesting location in vegetated areas of tundra in the arctic. Females lay 4 eggs and both parents incubate the eggs for 20 to 24 days. After chicks hatch, the female leaves and the male cares for the young. The chicks can forage for themselves almost immediately and learn to fly at 19 to 24 days.

Diet: Foraging in sand and mud along bodies of water, dunlins eat invertebrates like mollusks, worms, and insects. They also occasionally catch fish and eat plants and seeds. Using a probing method to feel prey in the sand, dunlins do not need the light of day to feed allowing them to forage whenever the tide is low.

Tide Pool Tidbits:

• During the non-breeding season, dunlins have one of the largest ranges of any shore bird.

• Males tend to incubate during the day and females incubate at night.

• The name dunlin (originally dunling), means little brown bird, and dates back to 1531.

Reference: The Cornell Lab, Audubon