Difference between revisions of "Kentish Plover" - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by tarabilla
Almeria, Spain

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

Other similar Charadrius species lack the white hind collar and black patches on the sides of the breast.

Distribution

Found in Europe, Africa and Asia east to Indonesia.

Taxonomy

Snowy Plover from the Americas was formerly considered conspecific.

A form discovered in southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, China) and commonly named White-faced Plover may belong to this species or form a full species. It seems that these birds were originally described as dealbatus, a name that later was accidentally transferred to the dealbatus subspecies of today.

Subspecies

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

There are 4 subspecies¹:

C. a. alexandrinus:

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

C. a. nihonensis

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

C. a. seebohmi:

South-eastern India and Sri Lanka

C. a. dealbatus:

Southeastern China; winters to southeast Asia, Malay Peninsula

Habitat

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

Behaviour

White-faced Plover: a full species?
Photo © by martinuk
Laem Pak Bia, Phetchaburi Province, Thailand, March 2011

Breeding

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

Diet

Diet includes insects and other invertebrates.

Vocalisation

Gallery

Click images to see larger version

References

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Avibase
Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0 00 219728
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 23 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Kentish_Plover

External Links

Search for photos of Kentish Plover in the gallery

Search for videos of Kentish Plover on BirdForum TV

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 ====Vocalisation====
 {{ Audio|Charadrius alexandrinus (song).mp3 }}
-''[[Media:Charadrius alexandrinus (song).mp3|Listen in an external program]]''
 ==Gallery==