The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds.

[2] This is one of the most abundant shorebird species in North America, with a population in the millions[3].

This bird can be difficult to distinguish from other similar tiny shorebirds, especially the semipalmated sandpiper.

These birds forage on mudflats during migration and the non-breeding season by probing or picking up food by sight.

They had been thought to mainly eat insects, spiders, small crustaceans, mollusks, polychaete worms, and seeds,[5] but are now known to heavily graze on biofilm from the surface of intertidal mudflats.