White-fronted plover
| White-fronted plover | ||||||||||
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White-fronted plover (Charadrius marginatus) |
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| Charadrius marginatus | ||||||||||
| Vieillot , 1818 |
The white-fronted plover ( Charadrius marginatus ) is a small species of bird in the plover family . Its occurrence extends across Africa , south of the Sahara and Madagascar .
description
The white-browed plover is about 18 centimeters long, slightly larger than a pale plover ( Charadrius pallidus ). The wing length is between 103 and 115 millimeters, the weight is up to just under 60 grams.
The top is sandy-gray, the underside white. The chest is often washed out, pale pink to yellow-brown in color - especially in the eastern regions of the distribution area. (In contrast to the shepherd's plover , whose chest is yellowish.) The forehead and eyebrows are white and the front “crown” is dark gray. While the neck and collar are white, the top of the head is gray-brown in color. A dark line runs from the ends of the beak to the eyes and around the neck, whereby this becomes wider and somewhat faded in the neck area. In flight, clear white bars on the top of the wings. Tail dark gray with white outer feathers. In flight, the stands do not protrude beyond the tail end, as is the case with the Shepherd's Ringed Plover.
Young birds do not have the dark "front crown" of adults. Chicks are pale gray on top with dark flecks. Underside white.
distribution
Africa , south of the Sahara and Madagascar . In southern Africa, the white-browed plover is often found near the coast, but also along the large rivers, on the banks of the large inland lakes and seasonally in the Etosha pan and the Makgadikgadi salt pans .
Habitat and way of life
The white-fronted plover prefers sandy beaches as well as the sandy banks of larger inland waters such as rivers, lakes and salt pans . He usually lives in pairs and in some areas is true to location all year round. Outside the breeding season, flocks of up to 100 birds occur. The white-browed plover typically sticks its head under the shoulder plumage when resting, but can also run relatively quickly.
The white-fronted plover feeds mainly on insects , crabs , spiders , worms and other molluscs , which it prefers to look for in the late afternoon and during high tide along the shoreline under seaweed, driftwood and other floating debris, but also far away from the water in the Sand dunes. He avoids foraging at night and in strong winds.
Reproduction
The white-browed plover breeds year-round with regional differences. Namibia in December and January, Natal in July and August and in Zimbabwe in August and September. The white-fronted plover prefers to breed before the start of the rainy season, with the exception of the western and southern Cape region , where it prefers to breed after the end of the winter rain in September and October.
The nests of the white-fronted plover are very simply scratched into the sand or gravel of the shoreline and usually reinforced with parts of shells. Sometimes nests can also be found inland on dunes, preferably in the protection of flotsam and alluvial algae.
The clutch consists of 1–3 (mostly 2) pale brown-yellow eggs, with fine black-brown points and lines. Size: (171) 32.7 × 23.3 (29.5-37 × 21-25). The incubation period is: 26–33 days, with the eggs being incubated by both parents. If the plovers are disturbed in their breeding business, they cover the clutch with sand and try to distract the intruder. The chicks are cared for by both parents and fledged after about 35–38 days.
literature
- Einhard Bezzel: birds. BLV Verlagsgesellschaft, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-405-14736-0
- 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
- Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey and Warwick Tarboton, SASOL Birds of Southern Africa (Struik 2002) ISBN 1-86872-721-1
- Hayman, Marchant and Prater Shorebirds ISBN 0-395-60237-8
Web links
- Charadrius marginatus inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2013.