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Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola) Alternate name(s): "Black-bellied Plover" German name(s): "Kiebitzregenpfeifer" Size: 28-30 cm; wing span 71-83 cm Body mass: 190-280 g (up to 345 g prior to migration) Wing loading [g/cm2]: 0.22-0.41

Europe: Family Group 9 Family Group 9 Table Red Phalarope Red-necked Phalarope Eurasian Stone-curlew Black-winged Stilt Pied Avocet Collared Pratincole Eurasian Oystercatcher Common Ringed Plover Little Ringed Plover Kentish Plover Grey Plover European Golden Plover Eurasian Dotterel Sociable Lapwing Northern Lapwing Spur-winged Lapwing Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European 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 Grey Plovers are relatively small waders. Their plumage is highly cryptic. When seen in Europe, they are usually, but not always, in eclipse plumage. During the non-breeding season the sides of the head are off-white, with wide greyish-brown eye stripes. The throat is off-white, while the sides and nape of the neck and the chest are off-white with grey-brown streaks. The belly, vent and undertail coverts are white. During the breeding season their front (face below the eyes, front and sides of the neck, chest, belly and vent) is all-black, with white lining from the forehead via the eyebrow along the sides to the front of the wings. The back (cap, nape of the neck, mantle upperwings and uppertail) remains mottled grey and black. The bill is dull black; the legs and feet are dark-grey.

Taxonomy, classification See Grey 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 Grey Plover is available HERE . Grey Plovers are a global, highly migratory species which, when not breeding, can be found along the coastlines of all continents, except Antarctica. They are also found inland in central North America and large parts of Eurasia. Their breeding grounds are located in the Arctic regions of the northern continents. Apart from the northern tundra of north-western Russia, where they breed, Grey Plovers are non-breeding migrants to the coastlines of Europe from the North. In central and southern Europe they can be found anywhere along the coastline, from the Wattensee of the German North Sea and the coastlines of the British Isles southward along the entire European Atlantic coastline and also the Mediterranean coastline. The birds overwintering in Europe are mostly males, while females tend to continue their migration into tropical sub-Saharan Africa. Grey Plovers are mostly found around saltwater and brackish water habitats, e.g. in estuaries, along beaches and in mudflats.

Sightings Click here for sighting information J. Pires reports spotting Grey Plovers occasionally during the non-breeding season in coastal and near-coastal riverine habitats, e.g. in the Tejo estuary, in southern/central Portugal. The species has also been found in various locations around the southern coastline of the Algarve, Portugal. A Grey Plover was also spotted on Terceira Island, Azores, in November 2018. A. Sarok found a Grey Plover in Vojvodina, Serbia, in the timeframe 2010-2024.

Photos

ADULT

BREEDING

PAIR

Lateral view of a pair of Grey Plovers in late breeding plumage, male in front (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Lagoa de Obidos, Leiria, Portugal, May 2022]

(Next to some unidentified birds) lateral view of 4 Grey Plovers in late breeding plumage - two males on the left, two females on the right (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Lagoa de Obidos, Leiria, Portugal, May 2022]

Near-lateral view of Grey Plovers in late breeding plumage - at the centre of the group two males; a likely female at front left, and two moulting birds back left and right (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Montijo, Tejo estuary, Portugal, September 2019]

MALE

Frontal view of a resting male Grey Plover in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[EVOA, Tejo estuary, Portugal, May 2023]

Lateral view of a male Grey Plover in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[EVOA, Tejo estuary, Portugal, May 2023]

Near-dorsal view of a male Grey Plover in late breeding plumage - note the solid-black sides of the head
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sapal Castro Marim, Vila Real Santo Antonio, Faro, Portugal, September 2020]

FEMALE

Lateral view of a female Grey Plover in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sado estuary, Mourisca, Setubal, Portugal, May 2025]

Lateral view of a female Grey Plover in (partial?) breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sado estuary, Mourisca, Setubal, Portugal, May 2025]

Lateral view of a female Grey Plover moulting out of breeding plumage - note the scalloped black-and-white sides of the head, neck and chest (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Trancao river, Lisbon, Portugal, September 2021]

NON-BREEDING

Sex unknown

Near-frontal view of a Grey Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mondego river, Figueira da Foz, Murraceira island, Portugal, November 2021]

Near-lateral view of a Grey Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Quinta de Marim, Ria Formosa, Olhao, Algarve, Portugal, November 2021]

Near-lateral view of a Grey Plover in non-breeding plumage; note the heavy bill (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Alhos Vedros, Tejo estuary, Portugal, February 2019]

Lateral view of a Grey Plover in non-breeding plumage, with the first few feathers of the new breeding plumage appearing (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Palhais, Barreiro, Setubal, Portugal, March 2014]

Lateral view of a Grey Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Quinta de Marim, Ria Formosa, Olhao, Algarve, Portugal, November 2021]

Lateral view of a Grey Plover in non-breeding plumage stretching its wings, thereby showing the characteristic black axillaries (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[PN Ria Formosa, Faro, Algarve, Portugal, November 2021]

Lateral view of a Grey Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Salinas do Brito, Tejo estuary, Portugal, November 2021]

Near-dorsal view of a Grey Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Palhais, Barreiro, Setubal, Portugal, January 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a Grey Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Alhos Vedros, Tejo estuary, Portugal, February 2019]

Near-dorsal view of resting Grey Plovers in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Lagoa dos Salgados, Albufeira, Algarve, Portugal, November 2021]

Dorsal view of a Grey Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Terceira Island, Azores, November 2018]

Lateral view of a Grey Plover in non-breeding plumage in flight, wings up - note the characteristic black axillaries
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Moita do Ribatejo, Setubal, Portugal, November 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a Grey Plover in non-breeding plumage in flight, wings down (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Montijo, Tejo estuary, Portugal, March 2019]

Direct comparison of a Grey Plover in non-breeding plumage with two Common Redshanks (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Quinta de Marim, Ria Formosa, Olhao, Algarve, Portugal, November 2021]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Migratory

Elementary unit: Solitary/small group

Food, Diet

Grey Plovers feed on small molluscs, polychaete worms, crustaceans and insects.

Lateral view of a Grey Plover in non-breeding plumage with a worm at full stretch (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Alcochete, Setubal, Portugal, January 2020]

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