Spoon-billed Sandpiper
Calidris pygmaea
- Length
- 14–16 cm
- Family
- Sandpipers and Allies (Scolopacidae)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
Best months to see it
- JanJanuary: Best
- FebFebruary: Best
- MarMarch: Best
- AprApril: Poor or no data
- MayMay: Poor or no data
- JunJune: Poor or no data
- JulJuly: Poor or no data
- AugAugust: Poor or no data
- SepSeptember: Best
- OctOctober: Best
- NovNovember: Best
- DecDecember: Best
BestGoodFair
Overview
The spoon-billed sandpiper (Calidris pygmaea) is a small wader which breeds on the coasts of the Bering Sea and winters in Southeast Asia. This species is highly threatened, and it is said that since the 1970s the breeding population has decreased significantly. By 2000, the estimated breeding population of the species was 350–500.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Diet: Small invertebrates on tidal mudflats.
How to identify it
- Small sandpiper with a unique spatula-shaped bill tip
- Breeding plumage: rusty-red head and breast
- Feeds with side-to-side sweeps of the bill
Where to see it
- Rudong, China (Sep–Oct)
- Gulf of Mottama, Myanmar (winter)
Destination guides featuring this bird
Similar species
- Red-necked Stint
- same size and plumage but a normal fine-tipped bill
Range and habitat
Breeds coastal tundra of eastern Chukotskiy Peninsula to northern Kamchatka (norhteastern Russia); winters coastal mudflats from Taiwan and east-central China to Bangladesh; mainly Thailand, Myanmar, and Bangladesh; rare and local.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Continents
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Spoon-billed sandpiper
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
