{{short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | image = Red-necked Stint - Boat Harbour.jpg | image_caption = Non-breeding plumage in New South Wales, Australia | status = NT | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Calidris ruficollis'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T22693383A93401907 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22693383A93401907.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> | taxon = Calidris ruficollis | authority = (Pallas, 1776) | synonyms = ''Erolia ruficollis'' | range_map = Red-necked Stint.jpg | range_map_caption = Range of ''C. ruficollis'' {{legend-line|#C42721 dashed 2px|Estimated range}}{{legend|#009200|Breeding range|outline=gray}}{{legend|#1A00CB|Wintering range|outline=gray}} }}
The '''red-necked stint''' or '''rufous-necked stint''' ('''''Calidris ruficollis''''') is a small migratory wader that breeds in northeast Russia and spends the non-breeding season along the coastlines of Southeast Asia and Australasia.
==Taxonomy== The red-necked stint was formally described in 1776 by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas under the binomial name ''Trynga ruficollis''.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Pallas | first=Peter Simon | author-link=Peter Simon Pallas | year=1776 | title=Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen des Russischen Reichs | volume=3 | language=German, Latin | location=Saint Petersburg | publisher=Kayserlichen Academie der Wissenschaften | page=700 | url=https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN33004978X?tify=%7B%22pages%22%3A%5B250%5D%2C%22view%22%3A%22info%22%7D }}</ref> The specific epithet ''ruficollis'' is Modern Latin meaning "red-necked" from Latin ''rufus'' meaning "red" or "rufous" and ''-collis'' meaning "-necked" or "-throated".<ref>{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=ruficollis | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=ruficollis | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=21 October 2025 }}</ref> The type locality is southern Transbaikal in eastern Siberia.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Ridgway | first=Robert | author-link=Robert Ridgway | year=1919 | chapter=''Pisobia ruficollis'' (Pallas) | title=The Birds of North and Middle America | series=Bulletin of the United States National Museum. Volume 50, Part 8 | location=Washington | publisher=Smithsonian Institution | pages=290-294 [292] | chapter-url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7744798 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1934 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=2 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=282 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14483095 }}</ref> The red-necked stint is now placed with 23 other species in the genus ''Calidris'' that was introduced in 1804 by the German naturalist Blasius Merrem. The species is monotypic, with no subspecies recognised.<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=February 2025 | title=Sandpipers, snipes, coursers | work=IOC World Bird List Version 15.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/sandpipers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=21 October 2025 }}</ref> Within the genus ''Calidris'' the red-necked stint is most closely related to the spoon-billed sandpiper (''Calidris pygmaea'').<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Černý | first1=David | last2=Natale | first2=Rossy | date=2022 | title=Comprehensive taxon sampling and vetted fossils help clarify the time tree of shorebirds (Aves, Charadriiformes) | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=177 | article-number=107620 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107620|url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2021/07/16/2021.07.15.452585.full.pdf }}</ref>
==Description== These birds are among the smallest of waders, very similar to the little stint, ''Calidris minuta'', with which they were once considered conspecific. The red-necked stint's small size, fine dark bill, dark legs and quicker movements distinguish this species from all waders except the other dark-legged stints. It measures {{convert|13|-|17|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length, {{convert|28|-|37|cm|in|abbr=on}} in wingspan, and {{convert|21|-|51|g|oz|abbr=on}} in weight.<ref name=CRC/> It can be distinguished from the western sandpiper and the semipalmated sandpiper in all plumages by its combination of a fine bill tip, unwebbed toes, and longer primary projection.
The breeding adult has an unstreaked orange breast, bordered with dark markings below, and a white V on its back. In winter plumage identification is difficult, although it is shorter legged and longer winged than the little stint. Juveniles have more contrasting mantle plumage and weaker white lines down the back than their relative. The call is a hoarse "stit".
==Distribution and habitat== Red-necked stints are strongly migratory, breeding along the Arctic littoral of eastern Eurasia and spending the non-breeding season in Southeast Asia and Australasia as far south as Tasmania and New Zealand. They are rare vagrants to western Europe, with records from Belgium, Denmark, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Sweden.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Alström | first1=Per | last2=Colston | first2=Peter | title=A Field Guide to the Rare Birds of Britain and Europe | publisher=HarperCollins |date=1991 | isbn=0-00-219917-3 | pages=119–121}}</ref> They are often seen in western Alaska and occasionally elsewhere in the Americas.
==Behaviour== Red-necked stints are highly gregarious and will form flocks with other small ''Calidris'' waders, such as sharp-tailed sandpipers and curlew sandpipers in their non-breeding areas.
===Breeding=== The breeding habitat is low altitude tundra usually in dry raised areas. The birds have only a low degree of site fidelity. The eggs are laid in June. The nest is a shallow depression lined with leaves and grass. The clutch of 3 or 4 eggs is incubated for 20-22 days by both parents. The females leaves soon after the eggs hatch while the male continues to care for the chicks until they fledge at 16-17 days. Only a single brood is raised each year.<ref name=hbw>{{ cite book | last1=Piersma | first1=T. | last2=van Gils | first2=J. | last3=Wiersma | first3=P. | year=1996 | chapter=Family Scolopacidae (Snipes, Sandpipers and Phalaropes) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World | volume=3: Hoatzin to Auks | location=Barcelona, Spain | publisher=Lynx Edicions | isbn=978-84-87334-20-7 | pages=444-533 [521] | chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0003unse/page/521/mode/1up | chapter-url-access=registration }}</ref>
===Food and feeding=== They forage in wet grassland and soft mud, mainly picking up food by sight. In their non-breeding habitat they feed on intertidal mudflats and along the muddy margins of freshwater lakes. They mainly eat insects and other small invertebrates.<ref name=hbw/>
==Gallery== <gallery> File:Calidris ruficollis P4233842.jpg|Feeding File:Calidris ruficollis summer plumage.JPG|Summer plumage in Japan File:Red-necked Stint redcliffe95.ogv|Scarborough, SE Queensland, Australia File:Calidris ruficollis - Pak Thale.jpg|In Thailand File:Red-Necked Stint Kaitorete.jpg|Non-breeding plumage, Lake Ellesmere, New Zealand. </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=CRC>{{cite book |title=CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses |editor-first=John B. Jr. |editor-last=Dunning |publisher=CRC Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-8493-4258-5}}</ref> }}
==Further reading== * {{cite journal |last1=Jonsson |first1=Lars |author-link1=Lars Jonsson (bird artist) |first2=Peter J. |last2= Grant |author-link2=Peter J. Grant |year=1984 |title=Identification of stints and peeps |journal=British Birds |volume=77 |issue=7 |pages=293–315}} * {{cite journal |last1=Alström |first1=Per |first2=Urban |last2=Olsson |year=1989 |title=The identification of juvenile Red-necked and Long-toed Stints |journal=British Birds |volume=82 |issue=8 |pages=360–372}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Calidris ruficollis}} * {{BirdLife|22693383|Calidris ruficollis}} * {{Avibase|name=Calidris ruficollis}} * {{InternetBirdCollection|red-necked-stint-calidris-ruficollis}} * {{field guide birds of the world|Calidris ruficollis}}
{{Scolopacidae|1}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q18860}}
red-necked stint Category:Wading birds Category:Birds of North Asia Category:Native birds of Alaska Category:Wintering birds of Southeast Asia Category:Wintering birds of Oceania red-necked stint Category:Articles containing video clips Category:Taxa named by Peter Simon Pallas