LESSER SAND PLOVER

Subspecies atrifrons, March 2017

(*   644)                  LESSER SAND PLOVER              Charadrius mongolus    

SRI LANKA                   96

Found along the shoreline of a variety of wetlands and wet grasslands. 19-21 cm. Common winter migrant to the lowlands, more common in a dry zone.

LESSER SAND PLOVER

Photographed in Singapore November 2016

(see   644)                  LESSER SAND PLOVER              Charadrius mongolus

SINGAPORE               (52)

Common winter visitor and passage migrant occurring in large numbers on sandy beaches and mudflats, rarely inland. 20 cm. Breeds in parts of NE Siberia to Chukorta, and NE China, with disjunction populations in Central Asia and Tibetan Plateau; winters along coasts of S and E Africa, Middle East, Indian sub-continent, S China, Southeast Asia, New Guinea and Australia.

LESSER SAND PLOVER

Photographed at Kakadu Beach, Bribe Island, Queensland August 2015

644             LESSER SAND PLOVER           Charadrius mongolus

Australia         (487)

Also known as Mongolian Sand Plover, Mongolian Plover or Mongolian Dotterel. 19-21 cm. Found on tidal mudflats and sandblast; gently sloping sandy and shelly beaches; salt marsh, estuaries, atolls, reefs, mangroves, airfields. Occasionally on inland freshwater lakes, swamps, bore drains etc. Range: breeds in e. and ne Siberia; regular summer migrant (Aug.-May) to mostly coastal Aust., Tas., and NZ; scattered inland occurrences. Regular in low thousands in some areas, such as Gulf of Carpentaria and Moreton Bay (Q).