The diademed sandpiper-plover or diademed plover (''Phegornis mitchellii'') is a

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

species of

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 eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in subfamily Charadriinae of family

Charadriidae The bird family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings. The family contains 69 species that are divided into 10 genera. Taxonomy The family Charadriidae was introduced (as Charadriadæ) by the English zoologist William El ...

. It is found in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

.HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6b. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6b_Jul22.zip retrieved December 5, 2022

Taxonomy and systematics

The diademed sandpiper-plover is the only member of its genus and has no subspecies. The species has at times been thought to belong to family

Scolopacidae Scolopacidae is a large family of shorebirds, or waders, which mainly includes many species known as sandpipers, but also others such as woodcocks, curlews and snipes. Most of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil ...

(the sandpipers) but genetic data place it firmly with other plovers in family Charadriidae. It appears to be most closely related to several Australian and New Zealand plovers of genera Elseyornis, Peltohyas,

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 ...

, and Pedionomus.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved July 24, 2022Sayers II, C. J. (2020). Diademed Sandpiper-Plover (''Phegornis mitchellii''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.diaplo1.01 retrieved December 6, 2022

Description

The diademed sandpiper-plover is long and weighs . The sexes are alike. Their bill is black and slightly decurved. Their legs and feet are orange. The adult's face is black with a wide white

supercilium 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 k ...

than extends around the back of the head. Their crown is black, their nape bright rufous, most of their upperparts dark brownish gray, and their rump and uppertail

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are small feathers behind t ...

are black. The tail is black with white tips to the feathers. Their throat is white, their chest, belly, and flanks are barred black and white, and their vent and undertail coverts are unmarked white. Juveniles are much duller than adults. Their upperparts are mostly brownish gray with cinnamon speckles and bars. Their supercilium is grayish and their nape is washed with cinnamon or rufous.

Distribution and habitat

The diademed sandpiper-plover is found in the Andes from central Peru's

Department of Junín Junín () is a Departments of Peru, department and Political division of Peru, region in the central highland (geography), highlands and westernmost Peruvian Amazon. Its capital is Huancayo. Geography The region has a very heterogeneous to ...

south through western Bolivia to central Chile and south-central Argentina. It is a habitat specialist found almost entirely in peatlands and bogs between the

frost line The frost line—also known as frost depth or freezing depth—is most commonly the depth to which the groundwater in soil is expected to freeze. The frost depth depends on the climatic conditions of an area, the heat transfer properties of the ...

and

snow line The climatic snow line is the boundary between a snow-covered and snow-free surface. The actual snow line may adjust seasonally, and be either significantly higher in elevation, or lower. The permanent snow line is the level above which snow wil ...

. The habitat is "characterized by a network of grassy banks interspersed with long streams and vernal pools". In elevation it ranges between in Peru though in the southern part of its range it is found as low as .

Behavior

The diademed sandpiper-plover is almost always seen alone or in pairs. It is not known if this is true social monogamy, territoriality, a function of its sparse population, or because of lack of enough study.

Migration

The diademed sandpiper-plover is an elevational migrant in the southern part of its range. Those nesting in the highest areas move to lower ones in March and return in October. The southernmost population is thought to be at least partially north–south migratory as well.

Feeding

The diademed sandpiper-plover typically forages alone or in pairs, probing in wet ground or in shallow water and picking prey from the water surface and aquatic plants. Its diet has not been detailed but is known to be mostly aquatic invertebrates.

Breeding

The diademed sandpiper-plover's egg period is from October to December in Chile and extends into January in Bolivia. Its nest is a hollow in the ground or a platform of dried grass. All documented clutches were of two eggs. The incubation period and time to fledging are not known.

Vocalization

A diademed sandpiper-plover call given while foraging and in flight is "a clipped ''pic'' or ''pic-pic''". What are thought to be alarm calls are "a plaintive, slightly drawn-out ''wheehu'', a less plaintive, fairly sharp ''whee-u!'', and a surprisingly loud screamed whistle, ''whEEHU!''."

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed the diademed sandpiper-plover as Near Threatened. It has a moderately large range but its estimated population of 1500 to 7000 mature individuals is believed to be decreasing. Though its habitat is thought to be relatively secure, " demand for water resources as well as

overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature ...

, road networks and human disturbance have been identified as threats". In addition, " e unique peatlands ecosystem of the high Andes is projected to be severely reduced as a result of climate change" with up to 75% expected to be lost by about the year 2100.

References

External links

Diademed sandpiper-plover photo gallery
VIREO (with picture of egg

clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that allows an output shaft to be disconnected from a rotating input shaft. The clutch's input shaft is typically attached to a motor, while the clutch's output shaft is connected to the mechanism that does th ...

)
Photo-High Res
Borderland-tours {{Taxonbar, from=Q1273063 diademed sandpiper-plover Birds of the Puna grassland diademed sandpiper-plover diademed sandpiper-plover Taxonomy articles created by Polbot