Animalia Life

Eurynorhynchus pygmeus
SUBFAMILY
Calidrinae
TAXONOMY
Platalea pygmea Linnaeus, 1758, Surinam. Monotypic.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
French: Bйcasseau spatule; German: Lцffelstrandlдufer; Spanish: Correlimos Cuchareta.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
5.5–6.3 in (14–16 cm); male averages 1 oz (29 g), one female 1.2 oz (34 g). Distinctive spatulate bill. Red-brown head, neck, and breast with dark brown streaks; blackish upperparts with buff and rufous fringes; white belly. Female slightly larger.
DISTRIBUTION
Chukotskiy Peninsula to north Kamchatka; winters from India to Indochina, south China and Singapore.
HABITAT
Coastal sand ridges, lakes, and marshes. Winters on muddy coasts and mudflats.
BEHAVIOR
Territorial. Male’s display flight includes hovering, circling and diving, and uttering a buzzing trill.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Insects, crustaceans, worms, mollusks, and seeds. Feeds in shallow water or wet mud, sweeping the spatulate bill from side to side.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Monogamous. Nests June–July in moss, sedges, and creeping osiers. Clutch contains four eggs; incubation occurs in 18–20 days, by both parents; female leaves when chicks are four to six days old.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Vulnerable, with a small, declining population (2,500–10,000 in 2000) because of habitat loss throughout range, compounded by disturbance and some hunting.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.

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