Daily Knowledge by appYeah

The curlew sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea) is a small wader. It is a long-distance migrant, breeding in the Siberian Arctic from June to August or September before migrating south to winter on the coasts of southern Afro-Eurasia. Adults have two main plumages: the non-breeding plumage shows brown-greyish upperparts and white underparts, while the breeding plumage is much more striking, with the entire front tinted a deep rusty colour, more intensely so in males. Its courtship behaviour is complex and involves several distinct displays. The female almost always lays one clutch of eggs, usually around the end of June; the eggs hatch after 20 days, and the chicks, relatively mature and mobile at birth, fully fledge at 14 to 20 days. The curlew sandpiper's breeding success is linked to lemming populations: in years when lemmings are abundant, predators hunt them instead. It is omnivorous, foraging in wetlands in large flocks for various invertebrates, including crabs and insects. (Full article...)