Dunlin

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Types of Shorebirds American Avocet Black-necked Stilt Black Oyster Catcher Black Turnstone Greater Yellowlegs Killdeer Long-billed Curlew Long-billed Dowitcher Least Sandpiper Lesser Yellowlegs Marbled Godwit Pectoral Sandpiper Red-necked Phalarope Sanderling Semipalmated Plover Spotted Sandpiper Surfbird Western Sandpiper Willet Wilson's Phalarope

The Dunlin is a small shorebird, only a bit larger than most of the peeps it hangs out with during migration.

The black patch on the belly makes them one of the easiest of the smaller shorebirds to identify during the breeding season.

The above picture shows a Dunlin in non-breeding plumage. The black legs and long curved black bill serve as the primary field identification guides.

They are hardy birds, breeding in northern Alaska and the northern Husdon Bay region. They winter as far north as the Pacific Northwest Coast and Mid-Atlantic Coast.

In some locations, Dunlin populations tend to be very dense. Recent research on Dunlin behavior in Humbolt Bay, CA, for example, suggests that population levels exceed ten thousand during the winter months.

© 2005 Patricia A. Michaels