Adults: Breeding: Forehead, white, sometimes with a narrow black line at base of bill. Eyestripe, from lores to ear, black. Forecrown, black. Eyebrow, short, white, connecting across crown forming a white posterior border to the black forecrown. Eye, dark brown. Eyering, yellow and broad. Crown, hind neck, back, rump, uppertail coverts, wing coverts, greyish-brown, greater coverts lightly edged white forming an inconspicuous wing bar. A narrow collar, white, and bordered behind by black, which continues forming a narrow black breast band. Tail, greyish-brown, distal half becoming black with a white tip, outmost feathers nearly all white. Throat, breast, belly, undertail coverts, underwing, white. Bill, black, with base of lower mandible yellow. Legs, yellow or pale pink. Non-breeding: Black of head replaced with brown or blackish-brown. Eyebrow, buff. Forehead, buff. Breastband browner or mixed black and brown and incomplete.
Immatures: Similar to non-breeding adult, but head markings less distinct, buff edges to back feathers and buff feathers in breast band. Legs, pale yellowish.
Derivation
Cha-rad'-ri-us - Gk, charadrios, valley bird: dubius - L., uncertain, doubtful (Scopoli, the first describer, was uncertain whether the bird was a distinct species)
Habitat
Sandy or pebbly river banks, mudflats and occasionally arable land, prefering freshwater to coastal regions.
Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius) [XC899100]
by \u00d8yvind Aas from R\u00e9sidence Bichat (near Ch\u00e2lons-en-Champagne), Marne, Grand Est, France (call, flight call, nocturnal flight call)
Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius) [XC823217]
by S\u00e9bastien Arriuberg\u00e9 from Lasseubetat, Pyr\u00e9n\u00e9es-Atlantiques, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France (nocturnal flight call)
Nest
A shallow scrape on the ground, near water, sparsely lined with stones.
Eggs (Guide)
4; not glossy, buff or stone with many brown spots and streaks. Incubation: about 25 days.
Subspecies
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
dubius Scopoli, 1786 - Philippines south to New Guinea.
curonicus Gmelin, JF, 1789 - Eurasia from Britain to northern China and Japan.
jerdoni (Legge, 1880) - India and south-eastern Asia.
Similar Species
Common Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)
Larger. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Has a shorter, thicker yellow bill with a distinctive black tip. Head is broader. Legs, shorter and yellow orange. In flight, a white wing bar is visable. Breastband is complete or nearly complete.
Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)
Slightly larger. Juveniles and non-breeding individuals with a broken breast band. Has a complete white collar but without the dark border. A slightly longer and heavier bill.
Long-billed Plover (Charadrius placidus)
Much larger. Has a larger head. Eyestripe is dark brown. Has a wider supercilium that occurs behind the eye only. Has a white wing bar. Bill is longer and lower mandible does not have orange base. Eyering is pale yellow.
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