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Oriental Plover

Oriental Plover

Anarhynchus veredus

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The Oriental Plover is a medium-sized, long-legged plover closely related to the Caspian Plover. It breeds on the dry steppes and arid grasslands of Mongolia, northern China and adjacent Russia and migrates south to winter mainly in northern Australia, with others in Indonesia and New Guinea. Breeding males are striking, with a white face and throat and a chestnut breast band edged by a slim black line. It is listed as Least Concern.

Did you know?

  • About 90% of the world population spends the non-breeding season in Australia.
  • It has reached Europe only a handful of times.

About the species

Identification

A slim plover of 22–25 cm. A white head and neck, rusty-red breast and sandy-brown wings and back are key features. It can be confused with Caspian Plover, but the clearly pale head and neck and rusty breast give it a distinctive look.

Family

Charadriidae

Size

Medium (thrush)

Colours

brown, white, black, orange

About the habitat

Breeds in dry steppe, semi-desert, arid grassland and saltpans; outside the breeding season in open grasslands, salt-fields and coastal areas.

Diet

Mainly insects taken from open ground in grasslands, saltpans and similar sparsely vegetated areas.

Behaviour

A strongly migratory plover that moves south through eastern China and South-East Asia after breeding. It nests on the ground and uses its long legs and wings to range widely over open country.

Sources

Photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charadrius veredus West Timor 0.jpg

Text: Wikipedia (English), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_plover

See also