Calidris alpina
Order Charadriiformes
Family Scolopacidae
Subfamily Arenariinae
Other names: Red-backed Sandpiper
Adult in spring.— Back and wings tinged with considerable reddish-brown; head, neck, and breast light gray; belly black; bill slightly curved.
Adult.— Upper parts ashy-gray; lower parts white; neck and upper breast tinged with gray; bill slightly curved.
Immature.— Back blackish, the feathers bordered with rusty; head and neck dull buff, streaked with dusky; breast buffy-white, streaked with black; belly white, spotted with black; bill as in adult.
The Dunlin is a rare spring and not uncommon autumn migrant along the coast, occurring in May, and from the middle of September to December. It feeds on the outer sand-beaches and mud-flats, either alone or in company with Sanderling and Plover. Its note may be written peurr.
Specimens showing the red backs and black belly are not often seen, but the fall birds may be distinguished by the plain ashy tone of the upper parts, and especially by the bill, which has a slight but distinct downward curve.
Hoffmann – A Guide to the Birds of New England and Eastern New York (1904)