BIRD OF THE MONTH - Dunlin

September 2025 - Dunlin

A chunky small shorebird dazzling in its breeding finery with vivid rusty back and black belly patch, the Dunlin was once called the Red-backed Sandpiper. It’s now named for its nonbreeding plumage, a mousy gray-brown or “dun” color.

Dunlin are an abundant species that nests around the world’s arctic regions. They have notably long, curved bills but they don’t probe deeply into mud. Instead they tend to feed on invertebrates just barely below the surface. They forage by repeatedly probing the area around them, then walking forward.

The song, heard mostly from males on the breeding grounds, often during display flights, is a remarkable series of highly modulated (burry) trills beginning with a short set of lower notes that each rises in pitch, then finishing with a descending trill. The song can last 3.5 seconds and is unlike any other sound of the tundra. The most commonly heard call is a high-pitched, scratchy krree, given by birds in flight or in conflict.

It is a long-distance migrant and winters in large flocks along bays, estuaries, and coastlines.