Editing Dunlin (section)

==Description==
{{multiple image
|align =  right
|direction = vertical
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|image1 = Winter dunlin.png
|caption1 = Dunlin in winter plumage, Barnegat Inlet, New Jersey
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'''Measurements''':<ref>{{cite book | editor1-last=Cramp | editor1-first=Stanley | editor1-link=Stanley Cramp | year=1983 | chapter=''Calidris alpina'' Dunlin | title=Handbook of the Birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa. The Birds of the Western Palearctic | volume=III: Waders to Gulls | location=Oxford | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-857506-1 | pages=356–371 }}</ref>

* '''Length''': {{cvt|16|-|20|cm|in}}
* '''Weight''': {{cvt|34|-|77|g|frac=8}}
* '''Wingspan''': {{cvt|38|-|43|cm|in}}

An adult dunlin in breeding plumage shows the distinctive black belly which no other similar-sized wader possesses. In winter, dunlins are grayish-brown above and white below. Juveniles are brown above with two weak whitish "V" shapes on the back, though less obvious than the same feature on [[little stint]] and some other species in the genus. They usually have black marks on the flanks or belly. All ages show a narrow white wingbar in flight. The legs and slightly decurved bill are black. The subspecies differ mainly in the extent of rufous plumage and the size of the black belly patch in the breeding season, and the bill length; in winter there are no subspecific distinctions in the plumage, with only the bill length providing a limited guide. Bill length varies between sexes, the females having longer bills than the males, further complicating winter subspecies identification. On the tip of the Dunlin's bill is a soft covering that fills with blood and with many nerve endings, forming a sensitive probe that is used to locate invertebrate prey in mud and sand. Although the bill can look sharp-pointed in dead specimens, in life it is blunt.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Inner Bird: Anatomy and Evolution|first=Gary W.|last=Kaiser|year=2007|publisher=UBC Press|page=24|isbn=978-0-7748-1344-0}}</ref>

The call is a typical sandpiper "chreep", and the display song a harsh trill.