Calidris subminuta
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The long-toed stint (Calidris subminuta) is a small wader. The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific subminuta is from Latin sub, "near to" and minuta, "small" from its similarity to the little stint, Calidris minuta.
Within the genus Calidris the long-toed stint is most closely related to Temminck's stint (Calidris temminckii). It breeds across northern Asia and is strongly migratory, wintering in south and south east Asia and Australasia. It occurs in western Europe only as a very rare vagrant.
This bird has yellowish legs and a short thin dark bill. Breeding adults are a rich brown with darker feather centres above and white underneath. They have a light line above the eye and a brown crown. In winter, long-toed stints are grey above. The juveniles are brightly patterned above with rufous colouration and white mantle stripes.
This bird can be difficult to distinguish from other similar tiny waders which are known collectively as "peeps" or "stints". In particular, the long-toed stint is very similar to its North American counterpart, the least sandpiper. It differs from that species in its more slender, longer-necked appearance, longer toes, somewhat brighter colours, and weaker wingbar.
These birds forage on mudflats, picking up food by sight, sometimes by probing. They mainly eat small crustaceans, insects and snails. Little is known of the breeding habits of this species, although it nests on the ground, and the male has a display flight. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bali Barat National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 2 | Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park | 🇲🇳 Mongolia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Long-toed Stint sighting in Tainan on a given day, based on 26 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 87th most-seen of the 116 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Long-toed Stint in Tainan on a given day, against under 5% in December to October, the lowest months. That is one of Tainan's driest months, with about 50 mm of rain against 440 mm in August.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Long-toed Stint sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
7th of 15
Of the 15 cities where we can rate Long-toed Stint sightings, Tainan ranks 7th at under 5%. The best odds are in Naha (Japan, about 20%), Quanzhou (China, about 20%) and Makassar (Indonesia, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Long-toed Stint is recorded against all the birds logged in Tainan (26 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
