Page 424 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

WADERS
Family Charadriidae Species Charadrius leschenaultii Family Charadriidae Species Charadrius asiaticus
Greater Sand Plover Caspian Plover
Much bigger than a Ringed Plover (see p.170), the This small- to medium-sized plover is long-legged,
Greater Sand Plover is also longer-legged,more upright, small-billed, and elegant. Pale brown above and white
larger-billed, and has a big, broad, bulbous head. In below, it has a broad chestnut breast-band in summer;
summer,it is rusty red on the head and chest;in winter, winter birds and immatures have pale earthy buff across
it is plain with dusky chest sides on the white under- the chest, more extensively dark than on a sand plover.
side.Young birds have pale scaly feather edges on the The legs are greenish, the wings show a white stripe,
back. Care is needed to separate this from the and the rump is all-dark in flight.
Lesser Sand Plover. OCCURRENCE Rare vagrant
OCCURRENCE Rare vagrant in in Europe from Asia; scarce
Europe;regular in Israel and Egypt. migrant in Middle East.
VOICE Trilling trr-rr, often VOICE Short chup.
repeated quickly.
ADULT
(WINTER)
JUVENILE large
black
bill long legs
pale, scaly dusky chest
feather edges sides
long, dull
green legs

Length 19–22cm (7 1 ⁄2 –9in) Wingspan 57–64cm (22 1 ⁄2 –25in) Length 19–21cm (7 1 ⁄2 –8 1 ⁄2in) Wingspan 57–64cm (22 1 ⁄2 –25in)

Family Charadriidae Species Pluvialis fulva Family Charadriidae Species Pluvialis dominica
Pacific Golden Plover American Golden Plover
More similar to the Golden Plover (see p.174) than Difficult to find in Golden Plover flocks (see p.174), a
the American Golden Plover, this slightly smaller, winter American Golden Plover tends to look greyer,
longer-legged plover is hard to detect. In summer, it with a bolder head pattern, slightly longer legs, and
has bolder black chequering above and more black longer wingtips.In summer,it is less yellow above,more
below than the Golden Plover. In winter, it is similar extensively black beneath, with bold white chest sides.
to the American species but less grey, longer-billed, In flight, the dusky grey underwing is a crucial clue.
and longer-legged.The dusky underwing is visible in Grey Plovers (see p.173) are larger and much bigger-
flight. It has longer tertials than the American bird. billed; Pacific Goldens are more difficult to separate.
OCCURRENCE Very rare vagrant from OCCURRENCE Regular but very rare white over
Siberia to W Europe, mostly late summer. vagrant in W Europe, from North eye
VOICE Sharp, whistled chu-wit like America,in autumn-winter.
Spotted Redshank (see p.188). VOICE Klu-i,stressed
on first syllable.
long
bill
black
short wingtips long wingtips ear-spot
beyond tertials long legs beyond tertials
JUVENILE white underparts
JUVENILE

Length 21–25cm (8 1 ⁄2 –10in) Wingspan 45–50cm (18–20in) Length 24–27cm (9 1 ⁄2 –10 1 ⁄2in) Wingspan 50–55cm (20–22in)
422