Dunlin: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the dunlin lives – recorded in 72 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Calidris alpina
Group	Waders, gulls, terns & auks
Status	Near threatened (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	72 countries
Continents	Africa, Asia, Europe, North America
Class	Bird
Order	Charadriiformes
Family	Scolopacidae

Where does the dunlin live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the dunlin in 72 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Wikidata gives its range as: Nanling Mountains, Africa, South America, Burkina Faso.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the dunlin endangered?

The dunlin’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Near threatened” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the dunlin?

The dunlin (Calidris alpina) is a bird in the order Charadriiformes and the family Scolopacidae, genus Calidris. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the dunlin

The dunlin (Calidris alpina) is a small wader in the genus Calidris. The English name is a dialect form of "dunling", first recorded in 1531–1532. It derives from dun, "dull brown", with the suffix -ling, meaning a person or thing with the given quality.

It is a circumpolar breeder in Arctic or subarctic regions. Birds that breed in western Europe are short-distance migrants largely staying on western and southern European and northwest African coasts; those breeding in far northern Europe and Asia are long-distance migrants, wintering south to Africa, southeast and west Asia. Birds that breed in Alaska and the Canadian Arctic migrate short distances to the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America, although those nesting in northern Alaska overwinter in Asia.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Dunlin (revision 1380663487), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q26650 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).