Forbes's plover (''Charadrius forbesi'') or Forbes's banded plover, is a small

wader 245px, A flock of Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to foraging, ...

. This

plover Plovers ( , ) are a widely distributed group of wading birds belonging to the subfamily Charadriinae. Description There are about 66 species in the subfamily, most of them called "plover" or " dotterel". The closely related lapwing su ...

is resident in much of west Africa, mainly on inland rivers, pools and

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...

s. Its

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...

is a scrape lined with small pebbles in rocky uplands. After breeding in the wet season, this bird moves to open

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

s, including airfields and golf courses, in the dry season. It is sometimes seen at pools or

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

s. The adult Forbes’ plover is 20 cm in length. It has long wings and a long tail, and therefore looks different from most other small plovers in flight, the exception being the closely related three-banded plover which replaces it in eastern and southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. The breeding adult has dark brown upperparts, and the underparts are white except for the two black breast bands, separated by a white band, which give this species its common and scientific names. The head is strikingly patterned, with a black crown, brown forehead, white

supercilia The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also ...

extending from above the eyes to meet on the back of the neck, and a grey face. The eye ring and the base of the otherwise black

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

are red. The sexes are similar. In non-breeding adults, the breast bands may be dark brown, and the supercilia buff-tinged. Juveniles resemble the non-breeding adult, but are duller. This species is larger and darker than the three-banded plover. The latter species also has a white forehead and a white wingbar. Forbes's plover is often seen as single individuals, but may form small flocks. It hunts by sight for insects, worms and other

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s. It has a piping ''peee-oo'' call. This species was named for the British zoologist

William Alexander Forbes William Alexander Forbes (25 June 1855 – 14 January 1883) was an English zoologist. He was the son of James Staats Forbes (1823–1904). Forbes studied natural sciences at St John's College, Cambridge, and later taught at Rhodes College ( ...

References

* Hayman, Marchant and Prater ''Shorebirds'' {{Taxonbar, from=Q1262138 Forbes's plover Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa Forbes's plover Forbes's plover