Little Stint

Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the Little Stint at stays in or beside Rocherpan Nature Reserve, De Hoop Nature Reserve, De Mond Nature Reserve and Keurbooms River Nature Reserve. A record means a host has seen it on the property or nearby, which makes these the places to base yourself; it is never a guarantee of a sighting on any given day.

The Little Stint is most recorded in Western Cape (68% of records), KwaZulu-Natal (10% of records), Gauteng (6% of records), based on 1,026 iNaturalist observations. 11 places to stay on Spekboom in Western Cape have recorded the Little Stint on site or nearby.

The Little Stint is recorded throughout the year, so no month is the wrong month to look for it. For the parks where hosts record it most, these are the best seasons they give. Rocherpan Nature Reserve: Winter and spring for birds and flowers, Jun-Oct; De Hoop Nature Reserve: Sep-Apr, flowers Aug-Oct; De Mond Nature Reserve: Summer for terns and waders, Oct-Mar; Keurbooms River Nature Reserve: year-round. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.

The little stint (Calidris minuta) (or Erolia minuta), is a very small wader. It breeds in arctic Europe and Asia, and is a long-distance migrant, wintering south to Africa and south Asia. It occasionally is a vagrant to North America and to Australia. The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds.