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9

Oriental Plover (Charadrius veredus) Alternate name(s): "Oriental Dotterel" Size: 22-25 cm; wing span 46-53 cm Body mass: 95 g (average)

Australia: Family Group 9 Family Group 9 Table Comb-crested Jacana Pheasant-tailed Jacana Bush Stone-curlew Beach Stone-curlew Banded Stilt Black-winged Stilt Red-necked Avocet Australian Pratincole Oriental Pratincole South Island Oystercatcher Australian Pied Oystercatcher Sooty Oystercatcher Pacific Golden Plover Grey Plover Little Ringed Plover Kentish Plover Red-capped Plover Double-banded Plover Semipalmated Plover Siberian Sand Plover Greater Sand Plover Oriental Plover Inland Dotterel Black-fronted Dotterel Red-kneed Dotterel Hooded Plover Masked Lapwing Banded Lapwing Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Oriental Plovers are relatively small coastal waders. Their plumage changes between breeding season and non-breeding season. During the breeding season the face is mostly creamy-white (except for small grey eye patches), with a grey cap and a white throat. The very wide chestnut breast band has a narrow black band at its base. The belly and vent are white. The upperparts (mantle, tail and upperwings) are dark brownish-grey. In eclipse the upperparts remain unchanged. At the front, the very wide chest band turns slate-grey, while the lower black band disappears. The bill is black; the legs and feet are orange-yellow, turning greyish in eclipse. Twitcher's tip Compared to Greater Sand Plovers, the Oriental Plover has a much wider and more conspicuous breast band in both breeding and non-breeding plumage. The correct identification of waders ("shorebirds"), e.g. of the Calidris, Tringa, Actitis and related families or of the Charadrius, Pluvialis and related genera in the field can be quite tricky. We have therefore made an attempt to give some advice HERE.

Taxonomy, classification See Oriental Plover at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Oriental Plover is available HERE . Oriental Plovers breed in eastern Russia, Mongolia and Manchuria. Outside their breeding season they migrate through south-eastern Asia primarily to Indonesia and Australia (some may be found in New Guinea or New Zealand). Oriental Plovers are non-breeding migrants to Australia from the North. In Australia Oriental Plovers can be found occasionally basically anywhere along the coastline, including the coasts of Tasmania. As desert breeders, they can also adapt to life in inland Australia and, given the right conditions, can be found in the western half of WA, the Kimberley in WA, anywhere in the NT, the Lake Eyre Basin in SA or the Murray River catchment in southern NSW and VIC. Outside Australia Oriental Plovers breed in deserts, saltpans and open grassland. In Australia they are found primarily in (near-)coastal wetlands, such as e.g. swamps and saltmarshes, but also in semi-arid to arid plains of the interior.

Sightings Click here for sighting information A. Morris and T. Faulkner report spotting an Oriental Plover at the Dairy Swamp, Central Coast Wetlands, Tuggerah, NSW, in September 2013. B. Hensen reports spotting Oriental Plovers at the Nightcliff Foreshore, Darwin, NT, in December 2015 and again in November 2018. B. Hensen also found an Oriental Plover near Newell Beach, QLD, in November 2018.

Photos

ADULT

BREEDING

Oriental Plovers on a rock platform; the bird on the right is still retaining part of its breeding plumage while the three on the left are in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Nightcliff Foreshore, Darwin, NT, November 2018]

NON-BREEDING

Close-up frontal view of an Oriental Plover in non-breeding plumage in a swamp (photo courtesy of T. Faulkner)
[Dairy Swamp, Central Coast Wetlands, Tuggerah, NSW, September 2013]

Frontal view of an Oriental Plover in non-breeding plumage on a rockface (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Nightcliff Foreshore, Darwin, NT, December 2015]

Frontal view of an Oriental Plover in non-breeding plumage on a rockface (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Nightcliff Foreshore, Darwin, NT, December 2015]

Near-frontal view of an Oriental Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of A. Morris)
[Dairy Swamp, Central Coast Wetlands, Tuggerah, NSW, September 2013]

Near-lateral view of Oriental Plovers in non-breeding plumage on a rockface (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Nightcliff Foreshore, Darwin, NT, November 2018]

Lateral view of an Oriental Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of A. Morris)
[Dairy Swamp, Central Coast Wetlands, Tuggerah, NSW, September 2013]

Lateral view of an Oriental Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of A. Morris)
[Dairy Swamp, Central Coast Wetlands, Tuggerah, NSW, September 2013]

Lateral view of an Oriental Plover in non-breeding plumage on a rockface (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Nightcliff Foreshore, Darwin, NT, November 2018]

Lateral view of an Oriental Plover in non-breeding plumage foraging in a swamp (photo courtesy of T. Faulkner)
[Dairy Swamp, Central Coast Wetlands, Tuggerah, NSW, September 2013]

Lateral view of an Oriental Plover in non-breeding plumage on a rockface (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Nightcliff Foreshore, Darwin, NT, November 2018]

Oriental Plovers in non-breeding plumage resting on a rockface (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Nightcliff Foreshore, Darwin, NT, November 2018]

Near-dorsal view of an Oriental Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of A. Morris)
[Dairy Swamp, Central Coast Wetlands, Tuggerah, NSW, September 2013]

Oriental Plovers in non-breeding plumage on a rockface; note that the birds are heat-stressed at 9:30 in the morning
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Nightcliff Foreshore, Darwin, NT, November 2018]

Behaviour

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.