Bird
Dunlin
Calidris alpina
A winter visitor to Virginia, found in all 133 counties and cities and 10 habitats.
- Here
- Winter and on migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 10

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Winter and on migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 10
- Habitat models
- Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Virginia 10
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Depression ponds and limesinks
Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.
Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.
Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.
Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.
Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Other habitats in its models (31)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia. Those recorded in Virginia first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (26)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Winter.
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Winter.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation Winter.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Winter.
- Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Winter.
- Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Winter.
- South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Winter.
- South Florida Shell Hash Beach Winter.
- South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Winter.
- Southeast Florida Beach Winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog Winter.
- Southwest Florida Beach Winter.
- Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
- Texas Coastal Bend Beach Winter.
- Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Winter.
- Upper Texas Coast Beach Winter.
Land cover and other classes (5)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.
Seasons in Virginia
- Migratory: does not nest here, in 108 of 133 counties and cities.
- Winter: does not nest here, in 42 of 133 counties and cities.
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Virginia, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Coastal dunes and beaches
Birds 104
- DovekieAlle alle
- Marbled GodwitLimosa fedoa
- Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus caudacutus
- Short-billed DowitcherLimnodromus griseus
- Wilson's PloverCharadrius wilsonia
- Great Black-backed GullLarus marinus
- Horned LarkEremophila alpestris
- Nelson's Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus nelsoni
- Purple SandpiperCalidris maritima
- SanderlingCalidris alba
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Seaside SparrowAmmodramus maritimus
Plants 109
- Maritime ThoroughwortEupatorium maritimum
- Seabeach KnotweedPolygonum glaucum
- Northern BayberryMorella pensylvanica
- Seabeach AmaranthAmaranthus pumilus
- Northern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia polygonifolia
- Southern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia bombensis
- Mound-lily YuccaYucca gloriosa
- Largeleaf PennywortHydrocotyle bonariensis
- Rough American Barnyard GrassEchinochloa muricata var. muricata
- Northern Seabeach OrachAtriplex mucronata
- Dune Marsh-elderIva imbricata
- American SearocketCakile edentula
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Birds 119
- Black TernChlidonias niger
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- DovekieAlle alle
- Yellow-throated VireoVireo flavifrons
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Nelson's Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus nelsoni
- Pine WarblerDendroica pinus
- Purple SandpiperCalidris maritima
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Thayer's GullLarus thayeri
- Wilson's WarblerWilsonia pusilla
Plants 24
- Slender FimbryFimbristylis autumnalis
- Purple SpikerushEleocharis atropurpurea
- Blue MistflowerConoclinium coelestinum
- False DaisyEclipta prostrata
- Intermediate Spike RushEleocharis intermedia
- Blunt Spike RushEleocharis obtusa
- Mid-Atlantic Flat-top GoldenrodEuthamia floribunda
- Bristly SedgeCarex comosa
- ChaffweedCentunculus minimus
- Shortbeak BeaksedgeRhynchospora nitens
- Sensitive FernOnoclea sensibilis
- AxilflowerMecardonia acuminata var. acuminata
Freshwater tidal marshes
Birds 74
- Nelson's Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus nelsoni
- Seaside SparrowAmmodramus maritimus
- BrantBranta bernicla
- Purple MartinProgne subis
- Red KnotCalidris canutus
- Yellow RailCoturnicops noveboracensis
- Piping PloverCharadrius melodus
- KilldeerCharadrius vociferus
- Blue-winged TealAnas discors
- Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
- Common LoonGavia immer
- Common TernSterna hirundo
Plants 30
- Saltmarsh Water-hempAmaranthus cannabinus
- Seashore MallowKosteletzkya pentacarpos
- Riverbank Evening-primroseOenothera riparia
- Long's BittercressCardamine longii
- River BulrushBolboschoenus fluviatilis
- Big CordgrassSpartina cynosuroides
- Coastal Water-hyssopBacopa monnieri
- Beaked SpikerushEleocharis rostellata
- American ReedPhragmites americanus
- Godfrey's SandwortSabulina paludicola
- Eastern GrasswortLilaeopsis chinensis
- Bushy SeedboxLudwigia alternifolia
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Dunlin
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)

















































