Kentish Plover - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by tarabilla
Almeria, Spain

Anarhynchus alexandrinus

Charadrius alexandrinus

Identification

15-17.5 cm (6-7 in)

• Upperparts greyish brown
• Underparts white
• Black legs
  

Female: has a grey head, lacking any black markings

Similar Species

Female
Photo © by Mark Bruce
Old salt ponds, Budai area, Taiwan, November 2008

Most other similar Charadrius plovers lack combination of white hind collar and black patches on the sides of the breast, but see Snowy Plover and White-faced Plover.

Distribution

Found in Europe, Africa and Asia east to Indonesia.

Taxonomy

Snowy Plover from the Americas was formerly considered conspecific. The White-faced Plover from southeast Asia was recently split out as a full species.

Subspecies

Juvenile
Photo © by charelli
Brouwersdam, The Netherlands, December 2007

There are 4 subspecies¹:

• A. a. alexandrinus:

• Breeds Western Palearctic to north-eastern China, southern Japan, and Ryukyu Islands; winters to Africa, southern Asia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Borneo

• A. a. nihonensis

• Breeds coasts of extreme southeastern Russia, Sakhalin Island, the Kuril Islands, northern Japan, and perhaps northeastern China; non-breeding range unknown

• A. a. seebohmi:

• South-eastern India and Sri Lanka

Habitat

Sandy coasts and brackish inland lakes, and is uncommon on fresh water.

Behaviour

Breeding

It nests in a ground scrape and lays 3-5 eggs.

Diet

Diet includes insects and other invertebrates.

Gallery

Click images to see larger version

• 

  Chick
  Photo © by Shantilal Varu
  Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India, April-2018

• 

  Photo © by markho
  Tivira, Portugal, April

• 

  Photo © by gerald762
  Barbate, Andalucia, Spain, 1 July 2019

References

1. Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2023. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2023. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0 00 219728
4. Birdforum thread discussing AOU NACC proposal to split Snowy Plover and other taxonomic changes

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Kentish Plover. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 14 November 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Kentish_Plover

External Links

Search for photos of Kentish Plover in the gallery

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