General
Temminck's Stint: Small sandpiper with gray-brown upperparts and faint breast band and white underparts. Dark tail is long with white outer feathers; upperwings are gray-brown and have dark markings. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is paler overall and lacks the black markings on the wings.
Range and Habitat
Temminck's Stint: Breeds in the far northern arctic of Europe and Asia. Favors inland bodies of water during migration to Africa and the coasts of India and South Asia, where it winters on the margins of sheltered bays and estuaries. Very rarely wanders to the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.
Breeding and Nesting
Temminck's Stint: Breeds on fairly bare ground in arctic tundra. Simple cup nest lined with bits of vegetation is placed on ground or in low shrubs. Lays four brown eggs. Complex mating structure with female laying eggs then leaving to mate and lay eggs that she incubates with a second male while the first male incubates her first clutch. First male also mates with a second female to produce another second clutch. Incubation lasts 21 to 22 days, first flight 15 to 18 days after hatching.
Foraging and Feeding
Temminck's Stint: Often feeds alone, moving cautiously and slowly like a small mouse while picking small insects and invertebrates from surface of water and mud at the margin of sheltered waters.
Vocalization
Temminck's Stint: Prolonged trilling "tiriririr."
Similar Species
Temminck's Stint: Larger Baird's Sandpiper has black legs. White outer tail feathers and unique feather coloration separates juvenile from very similar Least Sandpiper.