The broad-billed sandpiper (Calidris falcinellus) is a small wading bird. The scientific specific name falcinellus is the diminutive from Latin falx, falcis, "a small sickle". It was formerly treated in its own monospecific genus Limicola, but this was found to be embedded within the wider genus Calidris, into which it was transferred in 2004.
Within the genus Calidris, the broad-billed sandpiper is most closely related to the sharp-tailed sandpiper (C. acuminata).
The two subspecies are:
- C. f. falcinellus – breeds northern Scandinavia, northwest Russia; winters east Africa, Middle East, India
- C. f. sibirica – breeds central and eastern Siberia; winters southeast Asia
Description
thumb|Adult C. f. sibirica on spring migration, Taiwan
Broad-billed sandpipers are small waders, 16–18 cm long, slightly smaller than the dunlin, but larger than the little stint; it has a longer, straighter bill with the tip distinctly kinked down, and shorter legs than dunlin. The breeding adult has dark brown upperparts patterned with narrow, pale feather fringes, and white underparts with blackish markings on the breast. It has a pale crown stripe, and a distinctive double (split) supercilium. As its English name suggests, the bill is slightly broader than in most other Calidris species, but this "museum" name characteristic is rarely evident in the field.
The broad-billed sandpiper is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds applies.