Greater sand plover | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Charadriiformes |
Family: | Charadriidae |
Genus: | Anarhynchus |
Species: | A. leschenaultii |
Binomial name | |
Anarhynchus leschenaultii (Lesson, 1826) | |
Synonyms | |
Charadrius Leschenaultii (protonym) |
The greater sand plover (Anarhynchus leschenaultii) is a small wader in the plover family of birds. The spelling is commonly given as "greater sandplover" or "greater sand-plover", but the official British Ornithologists' Union spelling is "Greater Sand Plover". [2] The specific leschenaultii commemorates the French botanist Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour. [3]
It breeds in the semi-deserts of Turkey and eastwards through Central Asia. It nests in a bare ground scrape. This species is strongly migratory, wintering on sandy beaches in East Africa, South Asia and Australasia. It is a rare vagrant in western Europe, where it has been recorded as far west as Iceland. It has been spotted twice in North America, the most recent being on May 14, 2009, in Jacksonville, Florida. [4]
There are three subspecies: The nominate, A. l. columbinus and A. l. scythicus. The last was known as A. l. crassirostris until it was established that this name is pre-occupied by a subspecies of Wilson's plover, C. w. crassirostris. [5]
This chunky plover is long-legged and thick-billed. Breeding males have grey backs and white underparts. The breast, forehead and nape are chestnut, and there is a black eye mask. The female is duller, and winter and juvenile birds lack the chestnut, apart from a hint of rufous on the head. Legs are greenish and the bill black.
In all plumages, it is very similar to lesser sand plover, Charadrius mongolus. Separating the species may be straightforward in mixed wintering flocks on an Indian beach, where the difference in size and structure is obvious; it is another thing altogether to identify a lone vagrant to western Europe, where both species are very rare. The problem is compounded in that the Middle Eastern race of the greater sand plover is the most similar to the lesser species.
Its food consists of insects, crustaceans and annelid worms, which are obtained by a run-and-pause technique, rather than the steady probing of some other wader groups.
Its flight call is a soft trill.
The greater sand plover is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
The black-winged stilt is a widely distributed, very long-legged wader in the avocet and stilt family Recurvirostridae. Its scientific name, Himantopus himantopus, is sometimes used to generalize a single, almost cosmopolitan species. Alternatively, it is restricted to the form that is widespread in Europe, Asia and Africa, which equals the nominate group of H. himantopussensu lato. Meanwhile, the black-necked and white-backed stilts both inhabit the Americas; the pied stilt ranges from Australasia and New Zealand. Today, most sources accept between one and four actual species. The taxonomic name Himantopus comes from Greek, meaning "strap-foot" or "thong-foot".
The semipalmated plover is a small plover. Charadrius is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek kharadrios a bird found in ravines and river valleys. The specific semipalmatus is Latin and comes from semi, "half" and palma, "palm". Like the English name, this refers to its only partially webbed feet.
The common ringed plover or ringed plover is a small plover that breeds across much of northern Eurasia, as well as Greenland. The genus name Charadrius is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek kharadrios a bird found in ravines and river valleys. The specific hiaticula is Latin and has a similar meaning to the Greek term, coming from hiatus, "cleft" and -cola, "dweller".
The American golden-plover, is a medium-sized plover. The genus name is Latin and means relating to rain, from pluvia, "rain". It was believed that golden plovers flocked when rain was imminent. The species name dominica refers to Santo Domingo, now Hispaniola, in the West Indies.
The Pacific golden plover is a migratory shorebird that breeds during Alaska and Siberia summers. During nonbreeding season, this medium-sized plover migrates widely across the Pacific.
The little ringed plover is a small plover. The genus name Charadrius is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek kharadrios a bird found in river valleys. The specific dubius is Latin for doubtful, since Sonnerat, writing in 1776, thought this bird might be just a variant of common ringed plover.
The collared pratincole, also known as the common pratincole or red-winged pratincole, is a wader in the pratincole family, Glareolidae. As with other pratincoles, it is native to the Old World.
The common whitethroat or greater whitethroat is a common and widespread typical warbler which breeds throughout Europe and across much of temperate western Asia. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, and winters in tropical Africa, Arabia, and Pakistan.
The Eurasian dotterel, also known in Europe as just dotterel, is a small wader in the plover family of birds. It is the only species placed in the genus Eudromias.
The Siberian sand plover is a small wader in the plover family of birds. The International Ornithologists' Union split the Tibetan sand plover from the lesser sand plover and changed its vernacular name to Siberian sand plover. The specific mongolus is Latin and refers to Mongolia, which at the time of naming referred to a larger area than the present country.
The sociable lapwing, referred to as the sociable plover in the UK, is a wader in the plover family. It is a fully migratory bird, breeding in Kazakhstan and wintering in the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent, and Sudan. Historical literature referred to this bird as the Black-bellied lapwing.
The Caspian plover is a wader in the plover family of birds. The specific asiaticus is Latin and means "Asian", although in binomials it usually means the type locality was India.
The Terek sandpiper is a small migratory Palearctic wader species and is the only member of the genus Xenus. It is named after the Terek River which flows into the west of the Caspian Sea, as it was first observed around this area.
Charadrius is a genus of plovers, a group of wading birds. The genus name Charadrius is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. They are found throughout the world.
Wilson's plover is a small bird of the family Charadriidae.
Kittlitz's plover is a small shorebird in the family Charadriidae that breeds near coastal and inland saltmarshes, sandy or muddy riverbanks or alkaline grasslands with short vegetation. It is native to much of Sub-Saharan Africa, the Nile Delta and Madagascar. It is thought to be mainly polygamous and has monomorphic plumage.
The terrestrial fauna of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands is unsurprisingly depauperate, because of the small land area of the islands, their lack of diverse habitats, and their isolation from large land-masses. However, the fauna dependent on marine resources is much richer.
The white-fronted plover or white-fronted sandplover is a small shorebird of the family Charadriidae that inhabits sandy beaches, dunes, mudflats and the shores of rivers and lakes in sub-saharan Africa and Madagascar. It nests in small shallow scrapes in the ground and lays clutches of one to three eggs. The species is monogamous and long-lived, with a life expectancy of approximately 12 years. The vast majority of pairs that mate together stay together during the following years of breeding and retain the same territory. The white-fronted plover has a similar appearance to the Kentish plover, with a white fore crown and dark bands connecting the eyes to the bill.
The Dawlish Warren National Nature Reserve is a national nature reserve near the village of Dawlish Warren in south Devon, England. It is part of the Exe Estuary Special Protection Area, and sits on a sand spit which runs across the mouth of the estuary. It is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest and part of it is a local nature reserve.
The Tibetan sand plover is a small wader in the plover family of birds, breeds in Pamir Mountains, Tian Shan, Tibetan Plateau and south Mongolia, winters in east and south Africa, south, east and southeast Asia.