Little mudpipe

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Little mudpipe
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) .jpg

Little sandpiper ( Limnodromus griseus )

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Plover-like (Charadriiformes)
Family : Snipe birds (Scolopacidae)
Genre : Sandpiper ( Limnodromus )
Type : Little mudpipe
Scientific name
Limnodromus griseus
( Gmelin , 1789)
Limnodromus griseus 1.jpg

The little mud-runner ( Limnodromus griseus ), also known as the short-billed mud- runner , is a North American species of the mud-runner family . There are three subspecies. In Europe, the small mud-runner is an extremely rare exceptional guest and is seen here much less often than the large mud-runner .

Appearance

The little mud runner reaches a body length between 25 and 29 centimeters and weighs between 65 and 154 grams. The beak length is 1.5 to 1.75 times the head length.

In the magnificent dress, the upper side of the body is spotted black-brown, red-brown and beige. The underside of the body is salmon-colored. The neck and chest sides are darkly dotted, the flanks are indistinctly banded in brown and the belly is white. When resting, the back and the wing covers are gray-brown. The dark parting contrasts strikingly with the long white stripe above the eyes. The underside of the body is white and the neck and front chest are washed out pale gray-brown.

Distribution area

The little sandpiper breeds in three separate areas in subarctic North America. The breeding areas are found in northern Québec , in central and northwest Canada and in southern Alaska . The total population is about 320,000 individuals. Small sandpipers are migratory birds; their wintering quarters are in the southern USA, in Central America and in South America from Peru to Brazil . The three separate populations each follow different routes on their autumn and spring migration. The breeding birds of central and northwest Canada migrate across the Great Plains and the Mississippi Valley , while the breeding birds in northern Quebec follow the Atlantic coast. Alaska's breeding birds migrate along the Pacific coast and overwinter in an area that stretches from California to Peru.

habitat

Small sandpipers breed mainly in the inner coniferous forest and forest bog zone as well as in swampy terrain with low vegetation. They are also found in damp, swampy coastal tundra. During the move, they stay at prairie lakes and pools. They stay on the coast to a greater extent than is the case with the Great Mudpiper during the winter months. Here the little mud-runner can be found mainly on mud banks, in river mouths and on salt marshes .

food

In the breeding area, the little mudpiper lives mainly on soil arthropods . Larvae and pupae of diptera make up a large proportion of the diet . It also eats snails, beetles and insect larvae, and occasionally seeds. In the wintering area, the food mainly consists of marine annelids and mollusks.

When foraging for food, the little mud-runner stabs the mud quickly and violently with its beak and then pulls it out again.

Reproduction

The nest is a flat hollow, padded with dry grass, which is created under the protection of dense vegetation. The clutch consists of four eggs. These are pale green to cream in color and have dark brown and light gray spots. The breeding period is 21 days and both parent birds breed. The young birds are mainly led by the male.

Subspecies

There are three subspecies:

  • L. g. hendersoni , which breeds in the middle of Canada
  • L. g. caurinus that breed in Alaska. This species has a paler belly and rump, is more spotted on the chest and more transversely marked on the flanks
  • L. g. griseus is the nominate form found in the Quebec region, James Bay, and Labrador.

supporting documents

literature

  • Hans-Günther Bauer, Einhard Bezzel and Wolfgang Fiedler (eds.): The compendium of birds in Central Europe: Everything about biology, endangerment and protection. Volume 1: Nonpasseriformes - non-sparrow birds. Aula-Verlag Wiebelsheim, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-89104-647-2 .
  • Peter Colston , Philip Burton: Limicolen - All European wader species, identifiers, flight images, biology, distribution. BlV Verlagsgesellschaft, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-405-13647-4
  • Richard Sale: A Complete Guide to Arctic Wildlife , published by Christopher Helm, London 2006, ISBN 0-7136-7039-8

Single receipts

  1. ↑ Bauer et al., S: 474
  2. ↑ Colston et al., P. 168
  3. ↑ Bauer et al., P. 474
  4. ↑ Colston et al., P. 169
  5. ↑ Bauer et al., P. 475
  6. ↑ Colston et al., P. 170
  7. ^ Sale, p. 205

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