Mystery bird: Little ringed plover, Charadrius dubius

Little ringed plover, Charadrius dubius, also known as the little ring plover, the little plover, or as the ring-necked plover, photographed at Lake Zway, a Rift Valley lake in Ethiopia (Africa).

Image: Dan Logen, 6 February 2011 (with permission) [velociraptorize].
Nikon D300s, 600 mm lens, ISO 640, f/7.1, 1/1600 sec

Question: This Ethiopian mystery bird is commonly seen in England and sometimes in Wales. Can you name this bird's taxonomic family and species?

Response: This is a little ringed plover, Charadrius dubius, a migratory shorebird that winters in Africa and breeds in Europe and western Asia. This species breeds on the ground in open gravel or shingle river banks near freshwater, including reservoirs, sewage works, gravel pits, islands and river edges. The presence of gravel pits has led to the expansion of the little ringed plover's breeding range into most of England and sometimes into Wales. It also occasionally pops up in Scotland. These birds forage for insects and worms in muddy areas, usually by sight.

This species is sometimes confused with the larger common ringed plover, C. hiaticula, but is distinguished by its brown cap, white forehead and black mask around its eyes with a white "eyebrow" above, short black beak, bright yellow eye-ring and pale flesh-coloured (but not orange) legs and webbed toes. In flight, this species has a all-brown wing, distinguishing it from the ringed plover, which has a white wingbar.

Here's a video of a bathing, and later, feeding, adult female. You can clearly see her webbed toes (filmed on 15 May 2010 at Marshside RSPB Reserve, Lancashire, UK):

This sweet little video captures an adult little ringed plover and its three chicks (filmed in the open ground next to Hole 6 of the golf course at Broängarna, Hästholmstornet, Sweden):

You are invited to review all of the daily mystery birds by going to their dedicated graphic index page.

If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and (mostly) appreciative international audience here at The Guardian, feel free to contact me to learn more.

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