15-5-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR - 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.

This attractive small wading bird is a relatively new addition to the British breeding avifauna, first recorded nesting here in 1938.

Little Ringed Plovers are summer visitors to Britain, sometimes arriving as early as mid-March. Originally associated with gravel workings in central England, they have now colonised seasonally wet areas across the post-industrial landscapes of the north-west. In Wales and Scotland, new colonists use river gravels for nesting.

Easily confused with its commoner coastal cousin, the Ringed Plover, this species prefers fresh water. It is a daintier bird, has more subtle colours and lacks a white wing-bar when seen in flight. A good close view reveals the diagnostic yellow eye-ring.