Little Ringed Plover

Latin Name: 
Charadrius dubius
Category: 
Size: 
16cm
Description: 

Sexes alike. Sandy-brown above; white forehead; black bands on head and breast and white neck-ring diagnostic; white chin and throat; lack of wing bar in flight and yellow legs and ring around eye additional clues. Small numbers, often along with other shorebirds; runs on ground, on mud and drying jheels, walks with characteristic bobbing gait, picking food from ground; when approached close, flies rapidly, low over ground, zigzag flight accompanied by a whistling note.

Habitat: 
shingle-covered riverbanks, tidal mudflats, estuaries, lake edges.
Food: 
insects, worms, tiny crabs.
Distribution: 
resident and local migrant; throughout area south from Himalayan foothills.
Call: 
Call Description: 
a few…few… whistle, high-pitched but somewhat plaintive, uttered mostly on wing.