The greater sand plover (''Anarhynchus leschenaultii'') is a small

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in the

plover Plovers ( , ) are members of a widely distributed group of wader, wading birds of subfamily Charadriinae. The term "plover" applies to all the members of the subfamily, though only about half of them include it in their name. Species lis ...

family of birds. The spelling is often given as "greater sandplover" or "greater sand-plover", but the official

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...

and

British Ornithologists' Union The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds (ornithology) around the world in order to understand their biology and aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, Henry Baker ...

spelling is "Greater Sand Plover". The specific ''leschenaultii'' commemorates the French botanist

Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

. Like most other species in the genus ''

Anarhynchus ''Anarhynchus'' is a genus of plovers consisting of 24 species. Many ''Anarhynchus'' species are characterised by partial collars, rather than full breast bands or collars which are characteristic of ''Charadrius''. Taxonomy French naturalis ...

'', it was until recently included in the genus ''

Charadrius ''Charadrius'' is a genus of plovers, a group of wading birds. The genus name ''Charadrius'' is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. They are found throughout the world. Many ''Charadrius'' species are ...

''.

Distribution

It breeds in the semi-deserts of Turkey and eastwards through Central Asia, where it nests in a bare ground scrape. This species is strongly migratory, wintering on sandy beaches in East Africa, South Asia and Australasia. It is a rare

vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, ...

in western Europe, where it has been recorded as far west as Iceland. It has been recorded three times in North America, the most recent being on 13 April 2025 in Biscay Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador. Last previous sighing in NA,14 May 2009 in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

Subspecies

There are three

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

: Svensson, L., Mullarney, K., & Zetterström, D. (2009) ''

Collins Bird Guide The ''Collins Bird Guide'' is a field guide to the birds of the Western Palearctic. Its authors are Lars Svensson, Killian Mullarney, Dan Zetterström and Peter J. Grant, and it is illustrated by Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterström (wit ...

'', ed. 2. , pages 144-145Carlos, C. J., S. Roselaar, & J-F. Voisin (2012). A replacement name for ''Charadrius leschenaultii crassirostris'' (Severtzov, 1873), a subspecies of Greater Sand Plover. ''Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club'' 132 (1)
63–65
*''A. l. leschenaultii'', the

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, in the east of the species' range in Mongolia and NW China. Bill intermediate; summer plumage with a weak orange breast band. *''A. l. scythicus'', in the centre of the species' range in Central Asia. Bill largest in the species; summer plumage with a moderate orange breast band. Syn. ''A. l. crassirostris''; this name is however

preoccupied In biology, a homonym is a name for a taxon that is identical in spelling to another such name, that belongs to a different taxon. The rule in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature is that the first such name to be published is the s ...

by a subspecies of

Wilson's plover Wilson's plover (''Anarhynchus wilsonia'') is a small bird of the family Charadriidae. It was named after the Scottish-American ornithologist Alexander Wilson by his friend George Ord in 1814. Wilson's plover is a coastal wader which breeds ...

, ''A. wilsonia crassirostris'' described 48 years earlier. *''A. l. columbinus'', in the west of the species' range in SW Asia west to central Turkey. Bill smallest in the species; summer plumage with a strong orange breast band.

Description

This chunky plover is 19–22 cm long, slightly larger than a

common ringed plover The common ringed plover or ringed plover (''Charadrius hiaticula'') is a species of bird in the family Charadriidae. It breeds across much of northern Eurasia, as well as Greenland. Taxonomy The common ringed plover was formally described i ...

, and is conspicuously long-legged and thick-billed. Breeding males have sandy buff backs and white underparts. The breast, forehead and nape are variably orange in summer, and there is a black eye mask in summer. The female is duller and greyer, and winter and juvenile birds are browner, apart from a hint of rufous on the head. The legs are greenish-yellow and the

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 Pl ...

black. In all plumages, it is very similar to its close relatives

Siberian sand plover The Siberian sand plover (''Anarhynchus mongolus'') is a small wader in the plover family of birds. The International Ornithologists' Union split the Tibetan sand plover from the lesser sand plover and changed its vernacular name to Siberian san ...

''A. mongolus'' and

Tibetan sand plover The Lesser sand plover (''Anarhynchus atrifrons'') is a small wader in the plover family of birds, breeds in Pamir Mountains, Tian Shan, Tibetan Plateau and south Mongolia, winters in east and south Africa, south, east and southeast Asia. Taxono ...

''A. atrifrons''. Separating the species may be straightforward in mixed wintering flocks on an Indian beach, where the difference in size and structure is obvious; it is another thing altogether to identify a lone vagrant to western Europe, where both species are very rare. The problem is compounded in that the southwest Asian subspecies of the greater is the most similar to the other two species in its smaller bill.

Ecology

Its food consists of

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

s and

annelid The annelids (), also known as the segmented worms, are animals that comprise the phylum Annelida (; ). The phylum contains over 22,000 extant species, including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to vario ...

worms, which are obtained by a run-and-pause technique, rather than the steady probing of some other wader groups. Its

flight call Flight calls are vocalisations made by bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled ...

is a soft trill. The greater sand plover is one of the species to which the ''Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds'' (

AEWA The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds, or African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA), is an independent international treaty developed under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme's Convent ...

) applies.

Gallery

Greater Sand Plover 1 - Lee Point.jpg, Winter plumage, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia Greater Sand Plover at Kutch 2.jpg, Feeding, at Kutch, India Greater Sand Plover at Kutch.jpg, In flight; Kutch, India Greater Sand Plover wynnum.ogg, Wynnum Esplanade, SE Queensland, Australia Charadrius leschenaultii MHNT.jpg, Egg - MHNT

References

External links

* Greater sand plover
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q18857

greater sand plover The greater sand plover (''Anarhynchus leschenaultii'') is a small wader in the plover family of birds. The spelling is often given as "greater sandplover" or "greater sand-plover", but the official IOC and British Ornithologists' Union spelling ...

Birds of Central Asia Birds of West Asia Wintering birds of Africa Wintering birds of Indomalaya

Articles containing video clips Taxa named by René Lesson