Little ringed plover

Voice

A sharp, descending and slightly nasal pee-oo, shorter and less cheerful than the two-note whistle of Ringed Plover. In display flight over the gravel, a slowly repeated rattling cree-cree-cree, delivered on slow bat-like wingbeats. Heard mainly from April to June, and at night over river valleys on migration.

Identification

Small and slim, with a narrow complete black breast band, a black mask and a striking yellow eye-ring. The bill is all dark, the legs dull yellow to pinkish. In flight the upperwing is plain, with no white wingbar at all, which is instantly obvious. Juveniles and winter birds are browner, with a dull, often broken breast band and a fainter eye-ring.

Confusion species

Ringed Plover is the only real confusion species, and the wing settles it: Little Ringed shows no white wingbar, Ringed a broad white band. Little Ringed also has a yellow eye-ring, a dark bill and dull yellow legs, where Ringed has an orange bill base, orange legs and a heavier, rounder build.

Habitat

Bare stony or sandy ground without vegetation: river shingle, sand and gravel pits, settling ponds, dredged industrial land and temporary construction sites. It favours pioneer situations and moves on as soon as plants take hold. Feeds on damp mud close to shallow fresh water.

Range and movements

Breeds across nearly all of Europe except the far north and winters entirely in sub-Saharan Africa. In the Netherlands a scattered breeder of the river district, sand extractions and industrial sites. In Spain it uses the gravel rivers of the interior and reservoirs with drying margins.

• Breeding (summer)
• Winter
• Passage
• Migration direction
• dark = core range, pale = thinly spread

Where and when to look

Work a fresh sand extraction or a drying river bar in April and May; walk slowly and watch for movement, because a motionless bird vanishes against shingle. The display flight on slow flapping wings is most obvious around sunrise and betrays which sites are occupied.

Conservation status

It profits from human digging and is stable to slightly increasing in the Netherlands, but occupancy is erratic: a site grows over within two years and is then abandoned. Threats are river canalisation, disturbance by walkers and dogs, and the general loss of dynamic pioneer habitat.