Calidris

Calidris is a genus of Arctic-breeding, strongly migratory wading birds in the family Scolopacidae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. These birds form huge mixed flocks on coasts and estuaries in winter. They are the typical 'sandpipers', small to medium-sized, long-winged and relatively short-billed. Their bills have sensitive tips which contain numerous corpuscles of Herbst. This enables the birds to locate buried prey items, which they typically seek with restless running and probing. The genus contain 24 species: