Common Ringed Plover

Charadrius hiaticulaOrder: CHARADRIIFORMES Family: Plovers (Charadriidae)

Codes: Common Name: CRPL Scientific Name: CHAHIA ITIS Taxonomic No.: 176504

Common Ringed Plover: The breeding male Common Ringed Plover has dark gray-brown upperparts, pure white underparts, and a strong black mask and chest band.

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Overview

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.

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.

Topo Map: Sandpiper-like Body

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.

Bird Term Glossary

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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.

Common Ringed Plover

● 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.

● 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

Sandpiper-like Body

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Chest

Also called the breast area, it is the frontal area on the body containing the breastplate and major flight muscles.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America