Sand plovers in Guangdong, China, August (1 Viewer)

[beijingbabbler]

Hello, I saw a group of 7 sand plovers today, in varying plumages, probably transitioning from breeding to nonbreeding. Their shape and size suggests tibetan/siberian rather than greater, and I'm wondering what species they are (probably the same species, given that they came and flew away in a group). Thanks!

 

[johnallcock]

The bird still with a large amount of breeding plumage shows broad orange breast band and mostly black forehead, as expected of Tibetan. Greater would show a narrower breast band, Siberian also shows a broad breast band but usually not this pale or even and with a whiter forehead (although this can be difficult to judge at this time of year due to wear and moult).
Most of the others show a long, pale supercilium, also expected of Tibetan. Structurally they fit Tibetan (schaeferi), and all have pale flanks (Siberian usually has dark marks on the flanks). So these look like Tibetan to me.

Except: the bird on the left in pic 1 and 2nd from left in pic 2 looks like a juvenile. The pattern and structure are a bit tricky to judge from this angle, but my impression of this bird is that it looks more like a juvenile Greater SP. It seems a shade larger, more broad-chested and less 'leggy' than the others in pic 2 and the supercilium seems not quite as prominent. I think it's also still a bit too early for juvenile Tibetan SP in south China at the moment. But I'm not entirely sure about ID of this bird from these photos, it's a tricky angle and a distant bird.