Animalia Life

Calidris tenuirostris
SUBFAMILY
Calidrinae
TAXONOMY
Totanus tenuirostris Horsfield, 1821, Java. Monotypic.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
French: Bйcasseau de l’anadyr; German: GroЯer knutt; Spanish: Correlimos Grande.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
10.2–11 in (26–28 cm); 0.25–0.55 lb (115–248 g). Largest member of its genus; cryptic coloration in shades of black and white with chestnut scapulars. Female averages larger and has less chestnut in scapulars.
DISTRIBUTION
Northeast Siberia; winters in Southeast Asia and Australia, also Arabia, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
HABITAT
Breeds on montane tundra, in gravelly areas with short vegetation or scattered small trees; nonbreeders occupy coastal mudflats and sandflats, estuaries, lagoons and beaches.
BEHAVIOR
Territorial when breeding.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Breeding birds eat mainly berries but feed chicks on insects. In nonbreeding season eats mainly bivalve mollusks, also gastropods, crustaceans, annelids, and sea cucumbers. Forages mainly by probing; feeds in large flocks.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Monogamous. Lays eggs May–June. Clutch contains four eggs; incubation is 21 days, by both parents; female leaves after chicks hatch; fledges at 20–25 days.
CONSERVATION STATUS
About 270,000 winter in Australia, where apparently declining. Hunting and habitat loss at stopover zones in China may be a major threat.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.

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