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Common Ringed Plover

Charadrius hiaticulaOrder: CHARADRIIFORMESFamily: Plovers (Charadriidae)

Common Ringed Plover Portrait
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General

Common Ringed Plover: Plump little plover with dark gray-brown upperparts, pure white underparts, and strong black mask and chest band. Base of dark-tipped bill and legs are bright orange. Female has a brown cast in the black bands. Juvenile resembles female but has even more of a brown cast; also has dull orange bill and legs.

Range and Habitat

Common Ringed Plover: In North America breeds near the coasts of Greenland, Baffin Island, and Ellesmere Island. Occasionally seen as a spring migrant on the Aleutian Islands and may linger to breed.

Voice Text

"poo-ee"

Interesting Facts

  • If a potential predator approaches its nest, the Common Ringed Plover will feign a broken wing to lure the intruder away.
  • Males tend to perform more nighttime egg incubation, while females incubate more during the day.
  • It will sometimes use "foot-trembling" to stir up food and startle prey into movement.
  • A group of plovers has many collective nouns, including a "brace", "congregation", "deceit", "ponderance" and "wing" of plovers.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Common Ringed Plover
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
Species Charadrius hiaticula
Length7.5 Inches
Wingspan20.5 Inches

Common Ringed Plover

Common Ringed Plover: Plump little plover with dark gray-brown upperparts, pure white underparts, and strong black mask and chest band. Base of dark-tipped bill and legs are bright orange. Frequents mudflats. Eats worms, aquatic insects, crustaceans and mollusks. Direct flight with rapid wing beats.

● Song: "poo-ee"

● Foraging & Feeding: Common Ringed Plover: Searches for insects and aquatic invertebrates on moist beaches, mudflats, and shorelines. Walks forward several steps, pauses, then walks several more steps or dashes to catch prey.

● Breeding & nesting: Common Ringed Plover: Lays three or four buff eggs, lightly spotted with brown and black, in a simple scrape on the ground. Both parents incubate for 21 to 27 days. Chicks feed themselves but are guarded by parents until they can fly at 24 days old.

● Similar species: Common Ringed Plover: Virtually identical Semipalmated Plover has bit of webbing between all toes, while the Ringed Plover is only webbed between middle and outer toes. Black mask on Semipalmated Plover stretches above the base of the gape without touching it, while the black mask on a Ringed Plover surrounds and touches the base of the gape.

Flight Pattern

Fast deliberate wingbeats with short glides, usually low over the ground or water.
Common Ringed Plover Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Common Ringed Plover: In North America breeds near the coasts of Greenland, Baffin Island, and Ellesmere Island. Occasionally seen as a spring migrant on the Aleutian Islands and may linger to breed.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
Population
MigrationMigratory
Weight1 Ounces