Crab-plover

Photo by obasanmi
Mida Creek, Kenya, February 2006

Dromas ardeola

Identification

Length 36cm
Large avocet-like wader. White with black wing band

• White body
• Black back
• Black primaries
• Short grey tail
• Black, dagger shaped bill
• Long blue-grey legs
• Webbed feet
  

Sexes similar

Distribution

Coasts of northern Indian Ocean.
Breeds from Somalia and Madagascar east to western India. In nonbreeding season found along the whole coast from South Africa east to Thailand. Most birds winter in India, Tanzania, Kenya and the Arabian Peninsula.

Photo by vaibhav mishra
Kutchh, Gujarat, India, December 2010

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species^[1].

Habitat

Beaches and reefs.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes molluscs and crabs.

Breeding

They are colonial nesters. the nest is in 1.5m long burrows in sand dunes. They lay a single egg.

Vocalisation

Call: crow-ow-ow
<flashmp3>crab_plover_call_1.mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
Recording by Alok Tewari
Jamnagar, Coastal Gujarat, India, Jan-2015
Call given by a large group in flight and coming in to land.

Large Wintering Group
Photo by Alok Tewari
Jamnagar, Coastal Gujarat, India, Jan-2016

References

1. Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
2. Britannica.com
3. Wikipedia
4. animals.jrank.org

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Crab-plover. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 16 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Crab-plover

External Links

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