Tiny, plain grey-brown and whitish wader with black legs and straight, gently tapering black bill, slightly swollen at tip. Shadowy dark line from bill through eye separates small white area over bill and subtle whitish eyebrow from whitish throat. Upperparts are grey-brown. Underparts are whitish with grey-brown zone on sides of upperbreast.
Size
13 – 16 cm
Behaviour
Call
A weak chit chit or quick high pitched trill.
Diet
They forage on intertidal, near-coastal and inland wetlands. In tidal environments, they usually feed for the entire period that mudflats are exposed, often feeding with other species. They forage with a rather hunched posture, picking constantly and rapidly at the muddy surface, then dashing to another spot. Red-necked Stints are omnivorous, taking seeds, insects, small vertebrates, plants in saltmarshes, molluscs, gastropods and crustaceans.
Flight
Flocks frequently burst into flight, swift on long wings with the white under-surfaces flashing against the sea or sky.
Breeding
The Red-necked Stint breeds in north-eastern Siberia and northern and western Alaska. It follows the East Asian-Australasian Flyway to spend the southern summer months in Australia.
Field Guide
Improve your identification skills. Download your Red-Necked Stint field guide here!
