Common Ringed Plover
Charadrius hiaticula
Stout shorebird with a stubby bill. Note orange legs, often bright on spring adults. Breeding plumage has bold black-and-white head and breast pattern; nonbreeding has subdued and browner pattern. Bill is bright orange with a dark tip when breeding, dark otherwise. In flight shows bold white wing stripe. Mellow whistled “poo-ee” call quite distinct from call of more slender and "spectacled" Little Ringed Plover. Breeds on sandy and stony substrates from beaches and lakeshores to moorland above treeline. Winters coastally, where often roosts with other small waders such as Dunlin.
Identification
Adults are 17–19.5 cm (6.7–7.7 in) in length with a 35–41 cm (14–16 in) wingspan. They have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with one black neckband. They have a brown cap, a white forehead, a black mask around the eyes and a short orange and black bill. The legs are orange and only the outer two toes are slightly webbed, unlike the slightly smaller but otherwise very similar semipalmated plover, which has all three toes slightly webbed, and also a marginally narrower breast band; it was in former times included in the present species. Juvenile ringed plovers are duller than the adults in colour, with an often incomplete grey-brown breast band, a dark bill and dull yellowish-grey legs.<p>This species differs from the smaller little ringed plover in leg colour, the head pattern, and the lack of an obvious yellow eye-ring.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Charadrius hiaticula
- Authority
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Charadriidae
- Genus
- Charadrius
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- PAL : inland high Arctic Palearctic from Greenland to ne Siberia; to temperate Europe
- Non-breeding range
- to s Europe and Mediterranean, Azores to Cape Verde (Macaronesia, w of nw Africa); n and Sub-Saharan Africa, Seychelles, Comoros, Madagascar and the Mascarenes; Middle East to Persian Gulf region
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Large, unique, sooty-colored chat with a proportionately small head and long broad white-tipped tail (except on central feathers), often seen only on spread tail. White spots in wings are obvious only in flight. Immature is paler. Pairs and family groups prefer rocky granite hills and outcrops that have light tree cover, especially embedded within Mopane and Miombo woodland. Mobile, they scuttle and bound over rocks and perch in trees, tail regularly raised or fanned. Gives a loud varied collection of high-pitched whistles and trills, often likened to a squeaky wheel.
Woodland Pipit
Anthus nyassae
Large pipit with a streaked back and buffy outer tail feathers. Found in broadleaf woodland, especially miombo and Zambezi teak. Spends most of its time on the ground, but will perch in trees, especially when flushed up. The song consists of three cheeping notes, repeated over and over. Virtually identical to Long-billed Pipit, but has different range and habitat. Similar to Buffy and Plain-backed Pipits, but has streaking on the back, and found in different habitat.
Nilgiri Pipit
Anthus nilghiriensis
Warm buff-brown pipit with prominent white eyebrow and strong dense streaking all over the back; breast is more finely and sparsely marked. Much more well-marked above than other local pipits. Restricted to the southern end of the Western Ghats, where it inhabits open grassy areas at 1000-2300 meters.
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