17-4-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - LITTLE RINGED PLOVER (Charadrius dubius)

The little ringed plover (Charadrius dubius ) 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 (kharadra, "ravine"). The specific dubius is Latin for doubtful, since Sonnerat, writing in 1776, thought this bird might be just a variant of common ringed plover.

Adult little ringed plovers have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly and a white breast with one black neckband. They have a brown cap, a white forehead, a black mask around the eyes with white above and a short dark bill. The legs are flesh-coloured and the toes are all webbed.

This species differs from the larger ringed plover in leg colour, the head pattern, and the presence of a clear yellow eye-ring.

Their breeding habitat is open gravel areas near freshwater, including gravel pits, islands and river edges across the Palearctic including northwestern Africa. They nest on the ground on stones with little or no plant growth. Both males and females take turns incubating the eggs.

They are migratory and winter in Africa. These birds forage for food on muddy areas, usually by sight. They eat insects and worms.

They are monogamous for the first brood, and occasionally for several years. They usually nest solitary or in loose groups with well-spaced nests. They may breed near aggressive shorebirds which are able to keep predators away from the area. The Little Ringed Plover is territorial and highly aggressive.The Little Ringed Plover is a small plover with a distinctive black and white head pattern, similar to the Ringed Plover. It has a black beak and pale (not orange) legs. Close views reveal a distinctive yellow eye-ring. In flight, it shows a plain brown wing without the white wing stripe that Ringed Plover has. It first bred in the UK in 1938 and is now a year-round resident of a large part of England and Wales – thanks to man-made habitats such as gravel pits. It's listed as a Schedule 1 species under The Wildlife and Countryside Act.

Summer in Europe with wintering in the Mediterranean region and Africa. It is quite common but often local and often goes unnoticed. Breeds on stony substrates around lakes, gravel pits and along rivers. In migration it appears in a wide variety of freshwater and brackish water wetland habitats, but rarely in open tidal areas. The dull pinkish legs stand out. Plumage very similar to that of the more robust Ringed Plover, but the white eyebrow is continuous along the forehead where, up close, a narrow yellow eye ring can be seen. In flight it shows a narrow and indistinct white wing band. The call is a dry “piu” very different from the call of the Common Ringed Plover.