Pale Ringed Plover
| Pale Ringed Plover | ||||||||||
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Pallid Plover (Charadrius pallidus), Pallid Plover, male in breeding plumage, Mile 4 Salt Pans, Swakopmund, Namibia |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Charadrius pallidus | ||||||||||
| Strickland , 1852 |
The plover ( Charadrius pallidus ) is a small species of bird in the plover family . It lives in southern and eastern Africa and has a very disjointed distribution area there.
description
The pale ringed plover , with its long legs, is about 15 centimeters long and somewhat smaller than a white-browed plover ( Charadrius marginatus ). The wing length is between 100 and 105 millimeters, the weight is just under 40 grams.
It is the smallest representative of the genus Charadrius , its upper side is pale gray, below white with a narrow, chestnut-brown band on the chest, which is slightly black scaled in the male birds. It differs from the white-browed plover in its smaller size, rounder physique, more hunched posture, paler back, chestnut brown chest band and the lack of white wing stripes in flight.
Young birds are marked in black on the head, their chest band is gray, often incomplete or nonexistent. Chicks are light gray in front, slightly speckled with black, irregular lines, their underside is white.
distribution
The plover can be found in southern and eastern Africa , although it occurs all year round in some areas and only occurs seasonally in various regions. The main distribution areas are the coasts of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, the Makgadikgadi salt pans in the interior of Botswana, in the west of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State , in the north-west of the Cape Province and in the Etosha pan . It is less common on the Sabie River (in the east of the Transvaal / Kruger National Park ), at the confluence of the Sashi and Limpopo (southern Botswana , northern Transvaal), in the area around Bulawayo (central Zimbabwe ) and at the Victoria Waterfalls on the Zambezi , as well as along the coast of the Indian Ocean in Mozambique from Maputo (Lourenço Marques) up to the Zambezi.
Wetlands International is one of the internationally significant areas with an occurrence of plover the Walvis Bay wetland south of the city of Walvis Bay in Namibia, the Magadi Lake in Kenya and the Natron Lake and Lake Manyara in Tanzania.
Habitat and way of life
The plover lives in salt water and sandy lagoons , salt and brackish water pans, salt pans and seasonally fluctuating river mouths.
It lives alone or in pairs and outside of the breeding season it occurs in flocks of up to 50 birds. Its behavior is similar to that of the white-browed plover, but it is shy and very vigilant, especially when building nests. If he is disturbed, he will flee at low altitude; on the white salt surfaces he will be difficult to see standing still.
It is often seen in the company of white-browed plovers ( Charadrius marginatus ), pygmy sandpipers ( Calidris minuta ) and sickle sandpipers ( Calidris ferruginea ). It feeds on insects that it picks up from the ground or looks for in the mud and water. The plover, along with the shepherd's plover, is one of the few species that occur in the area of the Makgadikgadi salt pans all year round and thus also during the dry season.
Reproduction
The breeding season depends on local conditions and takes place mainly in the winter months, from March to September. The plover builds simple nests six to seven centimeters in diameter and about 1.5 centimeters deep on exposed salt surfaces and on beaches, which are lined with shells, small stones, feathers and dry plant remains.
The clutch usually consists of two eggs, which are pale brown in color and spotted dark brown-gray. The duration of the brood and the time until the young birds are fully fledged is not yet known exactly. Both parent animals take care of the hatching business and the rearing of the chicks .
designation
The common English term Chestnut-banded Plover indicates the chestnut brown chest band.
supporting documents
literature
- Einhard Bezzel: birds. BLV Verlagsgesellschaft, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-405-14736-0
- Simon Delany, Derek Scott, Tim Dodman, David Stroud (Eds.): An Atlas of Wader Populations in Africa and Western Eurasia. Wetlands International , Wageningen 2009, ISBN 978-9058820471
- L. Svensson, PJ Grant, K. Mularney, D. Zetterström: The new cosmos bird guide. Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-440-07720-9
- GL MacLean, A. Roberts: Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa. Southern African Birding cc., 1997-2003, ISBN 0-620-34053-3
Web links
- Charadrius pallidus inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
- Pictures of the plover by Trevor Hardaker
Single receipts
- ↑ Delany et al., P. 239