Least Sandpiper / Kleinste Strandloper

Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)

Pictures (click on them to enlarge)
© Steven Wytema	© Steven Wytema	© Pieter Verheij
© Jean-Louis Rousselle	© Hans Majong	© Dominiek Plouvier
© Erik Toorman	© Dominiek Plouvier	least and spotted © Dominiek Plouvier

Least Sandpiper: A small sandpiper, brown with a white belly and yellow legs. They breed in North Ameria, but they can be found in Suriname almost the whole year around. (except for half June till half July). They come to the coast of Suriname by the tenthousands. According to Arie Spaans they don't like to walk in the water, but are often found in drying lagoons or, like on the second photo, on the (hard) mud along the coast.
Photos of Least Sandpipers, made at Weg naar Zee in Suriname in 2005 by Steven Wytema. The photo was made by Pieter Verheij in January 2007, I suppose also at Weg naar Zee. And jean-Luois Rousselle saw one in Commewijne in April 2104.
Michiel vd. Bergh made a video near the Rondweg Noord in Paramaribo of a Stilt Sandpiper (in front) and a Least Sandpiper in October 2022.

Video (click the link or the 'play'-button to see)
Video recording of a Least Sandpiper © ;

Distribution

Each small square indicates the observation of at least one (group) of these birds, the medium ones at least four observations on different days and the largest ones ten or more. The color of each square indicates: blue for coastal area, yellow for savanna and red for rainforest.
Not all places in Suriname have been equally often visited by birders, so the distribution of the squares gives an indication of the whereabouts of the birds, but also of the birders. Some places deep in the south have no reported bird observations, by experienced birders, within 60 kilometer.

Abundance in different areas
coastal zone (blue dots on the map) :
northern savannas (yellow dots (in the north)) :
rainforest under 400 m (red dots) :
rainforest above 400 m (red dots) :
Sipaliwini savanna (yellow dots (in the south)) :
A blank is shown if not convincingly reported in the zone. Data interpreted by Arie Spaans, Otte Ottema and Jan Hein Ribot.

Names
Scientific name:	Calidris minutilla
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Scolopacidae, 25 in Suriname
Dutch:	Kleinste Strandloper
English:	Least Sandpiper
Sranan ('Surinamese'):
Guyana:
Papiamento:
Spanish (Venezuela):	Playerito Menudo
Portugese (Brazil):	Maçariquinho
Arowak:
Carib:
French:	Bécasseau minuscule

Observations through the year	Observations of breeding through the year

The 257 reported observations of this bird in Suriname, mainly for the last 50 years up to 2018, have been grouped by month. More birds on one day are counted as one observation. Of course, if the graph should depict the total number of birds seen, the differences between the months could be much more pronounced.	The reported breeding observations of this bird in Suriname. Most observations are about nest with eggs, some about fledglings, or feeding at a nest or the building of a nest. Of the about 5000 nests and eggs found for all species together, about 1/3 comes from the egg collection of Penard between 1896 and 1905. For some reason most collecting then was done in the first half of each year, so the shown distribution does not necessarily reflect the actual breeding preferences. The main dry season in Suriname is reckoned to be from half August to the end of November, the main wet season from half April to half August, but the the timing of begin and end does vary from year to year. Around March a second dry season often occurs.

Observations through the year

Observations of breeding through the year

The 257 reported observations of this bird in Suriname, mainly for the last 50 years up to 2018, have been grouped by month. More birds on one day are counted as one observation. Of course, if the graph should depict the total number of birds seen, the differences between the months could be much more pronounced.

The reported breeding observations of this bird in Suriname. Most observations are about nest with eggs, some about fledglings, or feeding at a nest or the building of a nest.

Of the about 5000 nests and eggs found for all species together, about 1/3 comes from the egg collection of Penard between 1896 and 1905. For some reason most collecting then was done in the first half of each year, so the shown distribution does not necessarily reflect the actual breeding preferences.
The main dry season in Suriname is reckoned to be from half August to the end of November, the main wet season from half April to half August, but the the timing of begin and end does vary from year to year. Around March a second dry season often occurs.

Last update: September 2024 by Jan Hein Ribot. Please mail your comments, photos to: jhribot ( residing at ) gmail (point!) com.
observations can be uploaded to suriname.observation.org or ebird.org ).