Adults: Breeding: Back, center of rump, wing coverts, greyish-brown, with greater coverts tipped white forming a narrow white wingbar with white bases to secondaries. Sides of rump, white. Forehead, most of underparts, underwing, white. Eye, dark brown. Lores, stripe through and below eye to ear, forecrown, black (male) or brown (female). Crown, rufous brown. White patch behind eye. Nape, hind neck, wide breast band, rufous, sharply contrasting with white throat and belly. A thin black band borders the breast band on the upper side. Tail, dark brown, darker near tip and tipped white. Outer webs of outer two pairs, white. Bill, black. Legs, dark grey, sometimes with a greenish tinge. Non-breeding: All black/dark brown of face and chestnut replaced by greyish-brown. Eyebrow, whiter. Breastband, may or may not be complete.
Immatures: Upperparts, greyish-brown. Breast band, tinged with buff.
Subspecies
Only mongolous group found in Australia.
The following 5 subspecies are recognised:
pamirensis (Richmond, 1896) - Western Tien Shan, Pamirs and Karakoram to western Kunlun Shan. Winters southern and eastern Africa to western India.
atrifrons Wagler, 1829 - Himalayas and southern Tibet. Winters India to Sumatra.
schaeferi Meyer de Schauensee, 1937 - Eastern Tibet north to southern Mongolia. Winters Thailand to Greater Sundas.
mongolus Pallas, 1776 - Inland eastern Siberia and Russian Far East. Winters Taiwan to Australia.
stegmanni Portenko, 1939 - Kolymskiy, Kamchatka, northern Kuril Is and Commander Is north to Chukotskiy Peninsula. Winters southern Ryukyu Is and Taiwan to Australia.
Similar Species
Greater Sand Plover (Charadrius leschenaultii)
Larger. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Bill larger. Face paler. Lores often partly marked grey-brown. Uniform pale grey-brown above. Broader white wing bar. Longer greenish or yellowish legs.
Double-banded Plover (Charadrius bicinctus)
Slightly smaller. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Upperparts browner. Remnants of two breast bands may be visible. Bill, finer. Legs, yellow-grey or grey-green. In flight, legs do not extend beyond the tail.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet