A tiny wader that passes through the UK on migration. Many pass in autumn, and most migrate to Africa for winter.
It has a fine, straight black bill and medium-length black legs, with brownish-grey upperparts and a white underside.
Little Stints breed in the Arctic and travel through the Baltic region toward North Africa and the Mediterranean in autumn. At Ottenby Bird Observatory in southern Sweden, researchers recorded 4,791 birds caught on autumn migration from 1946 to 2020. This long series made it possible to compare age-specific numbers and passage timing at the same stopover.
The median annual juvenile catch fell from 31 birds in 1946–1999 to 1.5 in 2000–2020. Adult passage advanced by an average of 0.48 days per year, reaching 26 days earlier in 2020 than in 1946. Measurements of recaptured Little Stints showed that they gained mass at Ottenby close to the theoretical maximum rate, suggesting that feeding conditions at this stopover remained favorable.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
At Ottenby, the median annual juvenile catch fell from 31 in 1946–1999 to 1.5 in 2000–2020, while adult passage advanced. The authors interpreted these changes as suggesting lower recent breeding output. Recaptured birds still gained mass near the theoretical maximum rate at the stopover, where feeding conditions remained favorable.