dunlin

noun

dun·​lin ˈdən-lən 

plural dunlins or dunlin

: a small widely distributed sandpiper (Calidris alpina) that in breeding plumage is largely cinnamon to rusty brown above and white below with a large black patch on the belly

Examples of dunlin in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Hundreds of birds called dunlins wheel above the freshly remade landscape, moving in tight formation like a pulsing, living cloud. — John Ryan, NPR, 3 May 2026

Watch dunlins, piping plovers, herons, osprey, and even bald eagles make the mangroves and coastal pines their warm-weather home. — Kelsey Glennon, Southern Living, 27 Feb. 2026

Great blue herons, green herons, great egrets, snowy egrets, dunlins, sanderlings and other sorts of shorebirds abound, making for great photography, as well. — USA Today, 11 June 2025

But by the time an hour had gone by, Barlow had captured this photograph of a dunlin taking flight with little time to spare before the wave hit the shore. — Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 June 2023

Single sandhill cranes in Northampton and Hadley, an upland sandpiper and a dunlin in Northampton, and an American bittern in the marsh on Flat Iron Road in Cummington. — Isabela Rocha, BostonGlobe.com, 6 May 2023

Word History

Etymology

dun entry 1 + -lin (alteration of -ling)

First Known Use

circa 1532, in the meaning defined above