Field Guide
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Little Ringed Plover
Charadrius dubius
Not yet photographed by the community
Smaller, yellow eye-ring; nests on gravel pits.
Species Profile
Amber List (due to small UK population and breeding range confined to specific habitat types)
- Lifespan
- 8–10 years in the wild
- Size & Weight
- 19–21 cm, wingspan 42–49 cm; 25–45 g
- Habitat
- Breeds on bare or sparsely vegetated ground near freshwater, including gravel pits, reservoirs, lakes, and river shingle beds.
- UK Distribution
- Summer breeding visitor to England, Wales, and southern Scotland (April to September); rare in winter. Populations have expanded northwards and inland since the 1960s.
- Diet
- Feeds on small invertebrates including insects, spiders, and crustaceans, typically picked from the ground or shallow water.
- Prey
- Beetles, flies, small crustaceans, and other small arthropods
- Predators
- Foxes, stoats, crows, gulls, and birds of prey such as Eurasian Kestrels
- Mating Season
- April to July
- Breeding
- Clutch of 4 eggs; incubation period 24–26 days; fledging at 25–27 days. Usually two broods per season, sometimes three.
- Behaviour
- Highly territorial and defensive of nest sites; performs distraction displays including the 'broken wing' routine when threatened. Males are vocal during breeding season with a distinctive 'pee-oo' call.
- •Little Ringed Plovers lack the white wing bar visible in the closely related Common Ringed Plover, distinguishing them in flight
- •They have a distinctive yellow orbital ring around the eye, particularly prominent in breeding plumage
- •The species has colonised newly created gravel workings and industrial sites across the UK, benefiting from habitat management for breeding
- •They are summer visitors, wintering in Africa south of the Sahara, undertaking long-distance migrations
- •Chicks are precocial and can feed themselves within hours of hatching, following parents to foraging areas
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