Japan and temperate East Asia, Singapore and tropical Asia
Habitat
rivers and wetlands
Colour
brown, white, yellow
Size
small (under about 20 cm)
IOC breeding range
PAL, OR (widespread inland subarctic to tropical zones: Eurasia, Indian subcontinent, se Asia, Philippines, New Guinea and Bismarck Arch.)
IOC non-breeding range
Sub-Saharan wc to ne, ec Africa; Middle East; s, se Asia and Indonesian Arch.
Identification
A small plover. Grey-brown back and wings, white belly and breast with one complete black neckband; brown cap, white forehead, a black mask round the eyes with white above; its great mark is the conspicuous yellow eye-ring. Short dark bill, flesh-coloured legs. Told from the larger common ringed plover by head pattern, leg colour and the clear yellow eye-ring. It feeds on insects and small invertebrates.
Habitat
Open gravel near fresh water: river beds, sandbars, gravel pits, reservoir margins and newly cleared ground, laying in a scrape on gravel, the eggs superbly camouflaged.
Distribution
Widespread in the Old World from the subarctic to the tropics across Eurasia, the Indian subcontinent, South-East Asia, the Philippines and New Guinea; winters in Africa, the Middle East and South and South-East Asia. A common summer visitor and resident throughout China, breeding in Japan from March to October, a winter visitor to Singapore.
Season and behaviour
In eastern China and Japan from March to October, breeding from April to June, when parents feign a broken wing to lead intruders from the nest; in Singapore from September to April.
Photography tips
These are the FilmAnalysis editors' notes, not content from the sources.
The yellow eye-ring is the point and needs a long lens close up in front light; lie low on the river bed so the gravel blurs in front. A broken-wing display means you are too near the nest: back off at once. Running birds need 1/2000 s.
Field ethics: keep a distance at which the bird does not change its behaviour; never approach or publish nest sites; no baiting, playback or flash; never clear vegetation around a nest; follow reserve rules and stay on paths.
Photographic styles
A small plover on a gravel bar; one touch of colour in a yellow eye-ring.
Similar species
Kentish plover (incomplete breast band, black legs, no yellow ring); common ringed plover (larger, orange legs, faint eye-ring, white wing-bar).
Related badge
None yet. No validated photo recognition exists for this species, so no badge is tied to it: a name in the encyclopedia is not evidence in a photograph.
The illustration is original FilmAnalysis artwork. No photographs yet: only photos cleared for commercial use with credit will be added.
