Long-billed plover

Last updated

Long-billed plover
Charadrius placidus japonicus.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Charadriidae
Genus: Charadrius
Species:
C. placidus
Binomial name
Charadrius placidus

The long-billed plover (Charadrius placidus) is a species of wading bird in the family Charadriidae. [2] It can be found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. [2] The long-billed plover is a migratory bird, so it breeds and spends the winter in different parts of its range. [3] This bird can often be spotted along the shores of rivers, streams, in wetlands, and rice fields. [3] It forages on the shoreline primarily for aquatic insects, insect larvae, and other invertebrates. [4] It is difficult to distinguish between male and female individuals because of their similar plumage. [4] The breeding season starts at the end of February or early March and ends in July. [4] A male and a female forms a monogamous pair and maintains their territory throughout the breeding season. [4] A global population survey in 2016 assessed the long-billed plover as a species of least concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. [5]

Contents

Description

Measurement and plumage

A long-billed plover with its adult plumage Long-billed Plover - Arunachal Pradesh - India (34352332021).jpg
A long-billed plover with its adult plumage

The long-billed plover is a medium-sized wading bird about 19–20 centimetres (7.5–7.9 inches), and weighing around 41–70 grams (1.4–2.5 oz). [6] The different body parts of males and females are similar in size. On average, the wing length is 14–15 centimetres (5.5–5.9 in), its tail length 7–8 centimetres (2.8–3.1 in), and the bill is about 2 centimetres (0.79 in) long. [4] Both males and females have a grayish brown back and a white belly and throat. [4] The forehead is white with a black band that runs from one eye to the other. The white patch of the forehead extends to the base of the bill. There is a black breast band below the throat. [3] The eyes have a yellow ring around them, and a white stripe above. [4] [3] Even though the male and female have a similar appearance, their breeding plumage (summer plumage) has a few differences that can help distinguish between the two sexes. The black band on the forehead and on the breast of the male is wider and more distinct than that of the female. [4] The feathers around the eyes of an adult breeding male are much darker than those of a female. Furthermore, the male's white eyestripe extends more distinctly behind the eye compared to that of the female. [3] Juveniles look quite similar to adult individuals, however they lack the dark forehead band of adult birds. The breast band of juveniles is narrower and less distinct than that of adult males. [3]

Confusion with other similar species

Adult male little-ringed plover with breeding plumage Charadrius dubius Scopoli.jpg
Adult male little-ringed plover with breeding plumage

The long-billed plover is often confused with other species of plover such as the little-ringed plover, because of range overlap and similarity in appearance. [7] However, the two species can still be distinguished from each other. The long-billed plover is larger than the little-ringed plover. [7] As the name suggests, the long-billed plover has a longer and thicker bill than the little-ringed plover. Adult breeding male individuals of little-ringed plover have a solid black bar above the base of the bill, in addition to the black forehead band. [3] The feathers around the eyes of little-ringed plover are black unlike the brown cheek feathers of long-billed plover. Furthermore, the yellow eye-ring of the little-ringed plover is much more distinct than that of long-billed plover. [3] The breast band of the little-ringed plover is usually wider at the center than on the sides, whereas the breast band of long-billed plover has more or less uniform thickness. [3]

Taxonomy

The long-billed plover is one of the many species of plovers in the genus Charadrius of the family Charadriidae that includes plovers, lapwings, and dotterels. [8] Charadriidae is one of the 17 families under the order Charadriiformes that comprises a wide variety of shorebirds, such as gulls, terns, auks, puffins, sandpipers, lapwings, plovers, and allies. [9] The long-billed plover was first described by J. E. Gray and G. R. Gray in 1863, and no subspecies has been reported so far. [10]

Distribution and habitat

The long-billed plover is widely distributed throughout South and East Asia. It is quite uncommon throughout its range and occurs in small numbers. [11] Breeding ground generally includes western, northern, and central parts of China, Japan, North Korea, and South Korea. [12] Many instances of breeding activity have been reported in the Bureya river and other parts of far east Russia, Honshu island in Japan, southeastern China, and in the western Arunachal Pradesh in India near the Himalayas. [11] [13] This species has also been spotted during its breeding season in Singapore. [14] The long-billed plover travels south of its breeding range to spend the winter. [13] It generally winters throughout eastern Nepal, northeast India to Indochina, southern China, South Korea, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kiyushu islands of Japan, Taiwan, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Thailand. [13] [4] [12] [3] Populations on the three main islands of Japan do not generally migrate south, and are year-round residents. Only the population in Hokkaido travel south to winter in warmer climates. [4]

Long-billed plover in its ideal habitat Long-billed Plover - Arunachal Pradesh - India FJ0A8807 (34155916121).jpg
Long-billed plover in its ideal habitat

Long-billed plovers prefer to inhabit the shores of rivers, streams, and lakes with small, round pebbles and rocks. [13] They tend to nest on small temporary shingle islands or pebble spits that form between the different branches of meandering mountain rivers. [11] These islands cannot be prone to frequent flooding, and need to be at least 600 square metres (6,500 sq ft) in area. The islands also need to have large patches of stones and pebbles that are 30–60 millimetres (1.2–2.4 in) in size. [11] Their habitats are often surrounded by shrubs, willows, and young forests. [11] Long-billed plovers can also be found in freshwater wetland habitats and rice fields in the winter. [3] These birds tend to avoid sandy beaches, mudflats, and areas with large boulders. [13]

Behavior

Vocalization

The long-billed plover has a wide variety of calls for different situations. They tend to get highly vocal during the breeding season. They can be seen flapping their wings rapidly, flying over their territories, and emitting a "fi-fi-fi-fi-fi" call. [4] Males sometimes make a quiet "gee gee" call when they expand their chest to intimidate other rival males. [4] When they are vigilant, they make a single rising "pyuoo-" call. When they are sheltering themselves from a predator or any threat, they emit a call like, "pip-pip-pip". [4]

Diet

Very little information is available on the feeding habit of the long-billed plover. Its diet is thought to primarily include aquatic insects and other invertebrates. [4] These birds have been observed to prey on midges, dragonflies, larvae of beetles, flies, and earthworms. [4] [15] Long-billed plovers forage along the shoreline and when they spot a prey, they move towards it quickly and capture it with their long bill. They do not seem to consume any plant material. [4]

Similar species in the genus Charadrius such as the Common ringed plover and the Kentish plover have been observed to prey on mysid shrimps. [16] The diet of long-billed plovers may also consist of similar crustaceans.

Reproduction

Long-billed plovers exhibit a monogamous breeding system in which a male and a female form a pair and establish a territory that they maintain. [4] Females, however, can abandon their nests sometimes to breed with other males. Males generally do not leave their territories. [4] Both males and females take part in territorial disputes. They fly around their territory and let out loud calls. They puff their chest, and often jump, and peck to ward off any unwelcoming intruder. [4] Males begin their breeding activity towards the end of February or in early March. The male displaces gravel with its feet and makes a shallow pit or depression, about 4 centimetres (1.6 in) deep and 13 centimetres (5.1 in) in diameter, by pressing its chest against the ground. [4] The male attracts a female by calling her. When a female comes to the nest, the male spreads his tail for courtship display. The female passes under the tail of the male and enters the nest. [4] The male makes many of these pits on the ground and guides the female from one pit to another, and the female eventually lays eggs in one of nests. [4] The female lays one egg every 48 hours until she has a clutch of four eggs. [11] The diameter and length of an egg is typically around 3.5 and 2.6 centimetres (1.4 and 1.0 in) respectively. The eggs generally weigh around 10–13 grams (0.35–0.46 oz). [11] The eggs are pear-shaped, and they are grayish brown or bluish gray in color with tiny brown spots. [11] [4] Both male and female take part in nest maintenance. They line their nest with small pebbles, twigs, small pieces of bark, and other dry plant parts. [11] Both male and female also carry out incubation of eggs. Eggs normally hatch 29 days after the start of incubation. Incubation period can vary because of human disturbance. [4] Long-billed plovers show a decent amount of parental care. If a predator approaches a nest, the parents try to intimidate the enemy and chase it away by making loud distress calls. [4] Furthermore, on very hot summer days, the parents protect the eggs from overheating by standing over them and shading them from the sun. [11] Long-billed plovers give birth to precocial offspring, meaning that the hatchlings can move around and feed by themselves shortly after hatching. The parents constantly monitor the hatchlings and are always on the lookout for any signs of danger. [4] The hatchlings gain body mass at the rate of 1 gram (0.035 oz) per day, and they become ready to fly when they are 40 days old. [11] Fledglings remain together with their parents for a short time before they leave the nest and migrate to their wintering grounds. [11]

Long-billed plovers tend to return to the same breeding for several consecutive years. This indicates that the same pairs occupy the same nesting sites every year. [11] The pairs tend to be attracted to the same breeding sites year after year. They begin to establish territories when the area still remains covered with snow, suggesting that they must have previous knowledge of the suitability of the site. [11]

Conservation status

The long-billed plover is listed as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List because of its wide distribution and large home range. It has a distribution range that exceeds 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 sq mi). [17] The global population seems to be decreasing, but the rate of decline is not drastic enough to make this species vulnerable. Population decline has to be more than 30% over ten years or three generations for a species to be deemed vulnerable. [17] Even though long-billed plovers are not vulnerable or threatened now, their population might decline rapidly in the future due to the loss of suitable breeding grounds. [18] Conservation efforts should include protection and restoration of breeding habitats. Habitat restoration projects can provide new breeding habitats through the artificial construction of gravel banks and pebble islands. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killdeer</span> Shorebird found in the Americas

The killdeer is a large plover found in the Americas. It gets its name from its shrill, two-syllable call, which is often heard. It was described and given its current scientific name in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae. Three subspecies are described. Its upperparts are mostly brown with rufous fringes, the head has patches of white and black, and two black bands cross the breast. The belly and the rest of the breast are white. The nominate subspecies breeds from southeastern Alaska and southern Canada to Mexico. It is seen year-round in the southern half of its breeding range; the subspecies C. v. ternominatus is resident in the West Indies, and C. v. peruvianus inhabits Peru and surrounding South American countries throughout the year. North American breeders winter from their resident range south to Central America, the West Indies, and the northernmost portions of South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piping plover</span> Species of bird

The piping plover is a small sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange-red legs, a black band across the forehead from eye to eye, and a black stripe running along the breast line. This chest band is usually thicker in males during the breeding season, and it is the only reliable way to tell the sexes apart. The bird is difficult to see when it is standing still, as it blends well with open, sandy beach habitats. It typically runs in short, quick spurts and then stops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-fronted dotterel</span> Species of bird

The black-fronted dotterel is a small plover wader in the family Charadriidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common ringed plover</span> Species of bird

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".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little ringed plover</span> Species of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snowy plover</span> Species of bird

The snowy plover is a small shorebird found in the Americas. It is a member of the bird family Charadriidae, which includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings. The snowy plover was originally described by John Cassin in 1858, but was classified as a subspecies of the Kentish plover in 1922. Since 2011, the snowy plover has been recognized as a distinct species based on genetic and anatomical differences from the Kentish plover. Two or three subspecies are recognized, distributed along the Pacific coast of North America, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile, in several inland areas of the US and Mexico, along the Gulf Coast, and on Caribbean islands. The coastal populations consist of both residential and migratory birds, whereas the inland populations are mostly migratory. It is one of the best studied endemic shorebirds of the Americas, and one of the rarest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caspian plover</span> Species of bird

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.

<i>Charadrius</i> Genus of birds

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilson's plover</span> Species of bird

Wilson's plover is a small bird of the family Charadriidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kittlitz's plover</span> Species of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain plover</span> Species of bird

The mountain plover is a medium-sized ground bird in the plover family (Charadriidae). It is misnamed, as it lives on level land. Unlike most plovers, it is usually not found near bodies of water or even on wet soil; it prefers dry habitat with short grass and bare ground. Its height is in the range of 5-9 inches, and length in the range of 8-10 inches ; and it weighs around 102 grams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collared plover</span> Species of bird

The collared plover is a small shorebird in the plover family, Charadriidae. It lives along coasts and riverbanks of the tropical to temperate Americas, from central Mexico south to Chile and Argentina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-fronted plover</span> Species of shorebird of the family Charadriidae from Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-capped plover</span> Species of bird

The red-capped plover, also known as the red-capped dotterel, is a small species of plover.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wrybill</span> Species of bird

The wrybill or ngutuparore is a species of plover endemic to New Zealand. It is the only species of bird in the world with a beak that is bent sideways in one direction, always to the right. A 2015 study found it to be within the Charadrius clade, with other New Zealand plovers its closest relatives; the nearest being the New Zealand dotterel or New Zealand plover, and then the double-banded plover or banded dotterel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three-banded plover</span> Species of bird

The three-banded plover, or three-banded sandplover, is a small wader. This plover is resident and generally sedentary in much of East Africa, southern Africa and Madagascar. It occurs mainly on inland rivers, pools, lakes and pans, frequenting their exposed shores. This species is often seen as single individuals, but it will form small flocks. It hunts by sight for insects, worms and other invertebrates. Three-banded plovers have a sharp whistled weeet-weet call. Its larger and darker-plumaged sister species, Forbes's plover, replaces it in West Africa and in the moist tropics. The two species have largely allopatric breeding ranges. Both species present a distinctively elongated profile, due to their proportionally long tail and wings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forbes's plover</span> Species of bird

Forbes's plover or Forbes's banded plover is a small wader. This plover is resident in much of west Africa, mainly on inland rivers, pools and lakes. Its nest is a scrape lined with small pebbles in rocky uplands. After breeding in the wet season, this bird moves to open grasslands, including airfields and golf courses, in the dry season. It is sometimes seen at pools or reservoirs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentish plover</span> Species of bird

The Kentish plover is a small wader of the family Charadriidae that breeds on the shores of saline lakes, lagoons, and coasts, populating sand dunes, marshes, semi-arid desert, and tundra. Both male and female birds have pale plumages with a white underside, grey/brown back, dark legs and a dark bill; however, additionally the male birds also exhibit very dark incomplete breast bands, and dark markings either side of their head, therefore the Kentish plover is regarded as sexually dimorphic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Two-banded plover</span> Species of bird

The two-banded plover is a species of bird in subfamily Charadriinae of family Charadriidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the Falkland Islands, and Uruguay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madagascar plover</span> Species of bird

The Madagascar plover, also known as the black-banded plover, is a small monogamous shorebird in the family Charadriidae, native to western Madagascar. It inhabits shores of lagoons, coastal grasslands, and breeds in salt marshes. These plovers mainly nest in open grassland and dry mudflats surrounding alkaline lakes. The species is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN because of its low breeding success, slow reproductive rate, and weak adaptation to increasing habitat loss, leading to declining population numbers.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2016). "Charadrius placidus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22693767A93421626. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22693767A93421626.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Charadrius placidus (Long-billed Plover) - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Lethaby, Nick (December 2006). "The Identification of Long-billed Plover". BirdingAsia: 48–54. Retrieved 2019-10-12– via ResearchGate.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Uchida, Hiroshi (2007). "Long-billed Plover" (PDF). Bird Research News. 4: 1–3. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
  5. ↑ "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016. doi: 10.2305/iucn.uk.2016-3.rlts.t22693767a93421626.en . Retrieved 2019-10-13.
  6. ↑ Brazil, Mark (2009-01-01). Birds of East Asia: China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Russia. A&C Black. ISBN   9780691139265.
  7. 1 2 "Long-billed Plover". BirdForum. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
  8. ↑ "Charadriidae - plovers, lapwings, dotterals, killdeers | Wildlife Journal Junior". nhpbs.org. Retrieved 2019-10-13.
  9. ↑ "Charadriiform | bird order". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-10-13.
  10. ↑ "ITIS Standard Report Page: Charadrius placidus". www.itis.gov. Retrieved 2019-10-13.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Kolomiyestev, Nikolay; Poddubnaya, Nadezhda (2014). "Breeding biology of the Long-billed Plover Charadrius placidus in the northern part of its range in the Russian Far East". Wader Study Group Bulletin. 121 (3): 181–185. Retrieved 2019-10-13– via ResearchGate.
  12. 1 2 Lee, Mu-Yeong; Jeon, Hey Sook; Lee, Sang-Hwa; An, Junghwa (2017-01-01). "The mitochondrial genome of the long-billed plover, Charadrius placidus (Charadriiformes: Charadriidae)". Mitochondrial DNA Part B. 2 (1): 122–123. doi: 10.1080/23802359.2017.1292473 . PMC   7800784 . PMID   33473738.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Eaton, James A.; Rheindt, Frank E. (2009). "Long-billed Plover Charadrius placidus nesting in its Himalayan wintering range: first breeding record for the Indian Subcontinent". Forktail. 25: 152–153. Retrieved 2019-10-13– via ResearchGate.
  14. ↑ Konrad, Volker (2005). "First record of Long-billed Plover Charadrius placidus in Singapore" (PDF). Forktail. 21: 181–182. Retrieved 2019-10-13.
  15. ↑ "Long-billed Plover (Charadrius placidus)". www.hbw.com. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  16. ↑ Moran, SH.; Fishelson, L. (1971-04-01). "Predation of a sand-dwelling mysid crustacean Gastrosaccus sanctus by plover birds (Charadriidae)". Marine Biology. 9 (1): 63–64. doi:10.1007/BF00348818. ISSN   1432-1793. S2CID   85217070.
  17. 1 2 "Long-billed Plover Charadrius placidus". BirdLife. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  18. 1 2 Kim, In-Kyu; Lee, Hansoo; Paek, Woon-Kee; Yoo, Seung-Hwa; Lee, Joon-Woo (2009-09-01). "Distribution and Conservation of Long-billed Plovers Charadrius placidus in Korea". Journal of Korean Nature. 2 (2): 115–117. doi: 10.1016/S1976-8648(14)60047-5 . ISSN   1976-8648.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.