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9

Common Ringed Plover

(Charadrius hiaticula)
Alternate name(s): "Ringed Plover"
German name(s): "Sandregenpfeifer"

Size: 17-19.5 cm; wing span 35-41 cm

Similar
species

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

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

Taxonomy, classification

See Common Common Ringed Plover at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species

Click here for information on habitat and range

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Photos

Race "hiaticula"

ADULT

MALE

BREEDING

Near-frontal view of a male Common Ringed Plover in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Caxias, Lisbon, Portugal, January 2019]

Near-lateral view of a male Common Ringed Plover in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, June 2018]

Close-up lateral view of a male Common Ringed Plover in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Tromso airport, Tromso, Norway, in June 2018]

Lateral view of a male Common Ringed Plover in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Montijo, Tejo estuary, Portugal, February 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a male Common Ringed Plover in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo Estuary Nature Reserve, Portugal, December 2017]

Near-dorsal view of a male Common Ringed Plover in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Parc Natural de s'Albufera de Mallorca, Mallorca, Spain, May 2023]

Common Ringed Plovers in various states of plumage together with Kentish Plovers
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo Estuary Nature Reserve, Portugal, March 2018]

Common Ringed Plovers in various states of plumage roosting together with other waders, including Kentish Plovers
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo Estuary Nature Reserve, Portugal, March 2018]

FEMALE

BREEDING

Lateral view of a female Common Ringed Plover in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Naturschutzgebiet Wallnau/Fehmarn, Fehmarn, Germany, June 2018]

Lateral view of a female Common Ringed Plover in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Naturschutzgebiet Wallnau/Fehmarn, Fehmarn, Germany, June 2018]

Dorsal view of a female Common Ringed Plover in breeding plumage; in this perspective the long supercilium is conspicuous
(photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Naturschutzgebiet Wallnau/Fehmarn, Fehmarn, Germany, June 2018]

NON-BREEDING

Sex unknown

Lateral view of a Common Ringed Plover in moulting into breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Caxias, Lisbon, Portugal, January 2019]

Lateral view of a Common Ringed Plover moulting into breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Montijo, Tejo estuary, Portugal, February 2019]

Frontal view of a Common Ringed Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Caxias, Lisbon, Portugal, January 2019]

Near-frontal view of a Common Ringed Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Caxias, Lisbon, Portugal, January 2019]

Near-frontal view of a Common Ringed Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Caxias, Lisbon, Portugal, January 2019]

Near-lateral view of a Common Ringed Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Caxias, Lisbon, Portugal, January 2019]

Lateral view of a Common Ringed Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo Estuary Nature Reserve, Portugal, December 2017]

Near-dorsal view of a Common Ringed Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo Estuary Nature Reserve, Portugal, March 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a Common Ringed Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo Estuary Nature Reserve, Portugal, March 2018]

Near-dorsal view from above of a Common Ringed Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Caxias, Lisbon, Portugal, January 2019]

Near-dorsal view from above of a Common Ringed Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Caxias, Lisbon, Portugal, January 2019]

Dorsal view of a Common Ringed Plover in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Moita do Ribatejo, Tejo estuary, Portugal, February 2019]

Lateral view of a Common Ringed Plover in non-breeding plumage banking to land (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Albufeira de Morgavel, Sines, Setubal, Portugal, October 2020]

Race "tundrae"

ADULT

NON-BREEDING

Sex unknown

Lateral view of a Common Ringed Plover in non-breeding plumage feeding on a mudflat; note the characteristic orange legs (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[November 2017]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Lateral view of a juvenile Common Ringed Plover (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[November 2017]

Behaviour

Common Ringed Plover can travel in large flocks - every "rock" in this photo is a bird resting on the ground...!
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Moita do Ribatejo, Tejo estuary, Portugal, September 2019]

It may be surprising to see, but even aquatic birds need to take a bath to clean their plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo Estuary Nature Reserve, Portugal, December 2017]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

ringplv_jp_20201016.m4a (Portugal) Contact call(?) © JP
ringplv_jp_20200722.m4a (Portugal) Contact call(?) © JP

More Common Ringed Plover sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

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.

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