Broad-billed Sandpiper

The broad-billed sandpiper is a small wader, 16–18cm long, slightly smaller than a dunlin and larger than a little stint. Its bill is longer and straighter than a dunlin's with a distinct downward kink at the tip, and its legs are shorter. Breeding adults are dark brown above with narrow pale fringes and white below with blackish breast markings, with a pale crown stripe and a distinctive split eyebrow. In winter it is paler and greyer, like a winter dunlin, but keeps the head pattern. The broad bill of its name is rarely visible in the field (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is strongly migratory. The subspecies falcinellus breeds in northern Scandinavia and north-west Russia and winters in East Africa, the Middle East and India, while sibirica breeds in Siberia and winters in South-east Asia. On its wintering grounds it is gregarious and joins flocks of other waders, especially dunlins. It was formerly placed in its own genus, Limicola. In India it is a winter migrant with a restricted range; SoIB 2023 finds its trends uncertain and rates it a Moderate conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).