Little ringed plover

Little ringed plover
File:Flussregenpfeifer Little ringed plover.jpg
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Charadriidae
Genus:	Charadrius
Species:	C. dubius
Binomial name
Charadrius dubius Scopoli, 1786

The little ringed plover (Charadrius dubius) is a small plover.

Description

File:Little ringed plover - chick.jpg

Little ringed plover - chick

Adults 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 with white above and a short dark bill. The legs are flesh-coloured and the toes are all webbed.

This species differs from the larger ringed plover in leg colour, the head pattern, and the presence of a clear yellow eye-ring.

File:Flussregenpfeifer Charadrius dubius.jpg

Mating, the male birds hits the cloaca of the female bird

Habitats and range

File:Charadrius dubius curonicus MHNT.jpg

Egg of Charadrius dubius – MHNT

Their breeding habitat is open gravel areas near freshwater, including gravel pits, islands and river edges in Europe and western Asia. They nest on the ground on stones with little or no plant growth. Both male and female take turn to incubate the eggs.

They are migratory and winter in Africa. These birds forage for food on muddy areas, usually by sight. They eat insects and worms.

Conservation

The little ringed plover is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

External links

• Little ringed plover Image documentation
• Sexing and ageing (PDF; 5.4 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze
• Avibase