Calidris ruficollis
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The red-necked stint or rufous-necked stint (Calidris ruficollis) is a small migratory wader that breeds in northeast Russia and spends the non-breeding season along the coastlines of Southeast Asia and Australasia. The red-necked stint was formally described in 1776 by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas under the binomial name Trynga ruficollis. The specific epithet ruficollis is Modern Latin meaning "red-necked" from Latin rufus meaning "red" or "rufous" and -collis meaning "-necked" or "-throated". The type locality is southern Transbaikal in eastern Siberia. The red-necked stint is now placed with 23 other species in the genus Calidris that was introduced in 1804 by the German naturalist Blasius Merrem. The species is monotypic, with no subspecies recognised. Within the genus Calidris the red-necked stint is most closely related to the spoon-billed sandpiper (Calidris pygmaea).
These birds are among the smallest of waders, very similar to the little stint, Calidris minuta, with which they were once considered conspecific. The red-necked stint's small size, fine dark bill, dark legs and quicker movements distinguish this species from all waders...
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rottnest Island | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Bali Barat National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 3 | Cape Range | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Phillip Island Nature Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Wilsons Promontory National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Noosa National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Raja Ampat | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Red-necked Stint sighting in Phillip Island Nature Park on a given day, based on 237 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 65th most-seen of the 149 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February and September–December
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Red-necked Stint in Phillip Island Nature Park on a given day, against under 5% in April–May and July–August, the lowest months.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Red-necked 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.
4th of 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Red-necked Stint sightings, Phillip Island Nature Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Rottnest Island (Australia, about 60%), Bali Barat National Park (Indonesia, about 20%) and Cape Range (Australia, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Red-necked Stint is recorded against all the birds logged in Phillip Island Nature Park (237 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
