Charadrius mongolus
The Lesser Sand Plover has a grey-brown crown and nape and a brownish-midgrey dorsum. The forehead, lores and upperwings are black, the ear coverts are a dusky grey and the chin, throat and belly are mostly white. When breeding in the Northern Hemisphere the plumage on the breast and the top of the head changes to a dull brick-red and the ear coverts become black. The brick-red breast is separated from the white neck by a narrow black line. The Lesser Sand Plover is distinguishable from the Greater Sand Plover by a smaller body with a more upright stance and more compact appearance. Also, in the breeding season, the Lesser Sand Plover has a narrow black breast band immediately above the red-brick plumage. In Australia, records indicate that the species calls in clear trik or tikit.
Not Threatened.
The Lesser Sand Plover has a grey-brown crown and nape and a brownish-midgrey dorsum. The forehead, lores and upperwings are black, the ear coverts are a dusky grey and the chin, throat and belly are mostly white. When breeding in the Northern Hemisphere the plumage on the breast and the top of the head changes to a dull brick-red and the ear coverts become black. The brick-red breast is separated from the white neck by a narrow black line. The Lesser Sand Plover is distinguishable from the Greater Sand Plover by a smaller body with a more upright stance and more compact appearance. Also, in the breeding season, the Lesser Sand Plover has a narrow black breast band immediately above the red-brick plumage. In Australia, records indicate that the species calls in clear trik or tikit.
Lengh 180-210mm Wingspan 450-580mm Tail 46-52mm Bill 15-21mm Tarsus 30-32mm Weight 56-71g
Taxonomy:
- Charadrius mongolus Pallas, 1776, salt-lakes towards Mongolian border = Kulusutay, probably on Onon River, Siberia. C Asian and Himalayan populations form megasubspecies, atrifrons. Five subspecies normally recognized. (source: Handbook of the Birds of World)
Subspecies and Distribution:
- * pamirensis Richmond, 1896 - W Tien Shan, Pamirs and Karakoram to W Kunlun Shan; winters S & E Africa to W India. * atrifrons Wagler, 1829 - Himalayas and S Tibet; winters India to Sumatra. * schaeferi Meyer de Schauensee, 1938 - E Tibet N to S Mongolia; winters Thailand to Greater Sundas. * mongolus Pallas, 1776 - inland E Siberia and Russian Far East; winters Taiwan to Australia. * stegmanni Portenko, 1939 - Kolymskiy, Kamchatka, N Kuril Is and Commander Is N to Chukotskiy Peninsula; winters S Ryukyu Is and Taiwan to Australia.
The Lesser Sand Plover breeds on stepps, deserts, predominately at high altitudes in the Northern Hemisphere (Marchant &Higgins 1993). In Australia, the species is known to favour coastal environs including beaches, mudflats and mangroves (Pizzey 1991). Within NSW, individuals have been observed on intertidal sand and mudflats in estuaries or roosting on sandy beaches or rocky shores at high tide.
Their diet includes crustaceans, molluscs, insects and marine worms, although they have been recorded eating seeds
The female usually lies approximately 3 eggs. The male incubates the eggs for most of the 22-24 day incubation period and also cares for the young It breeds above the tree line in the Himalayas and discontinuously across to bare coastal plains in north-eastern Siberia, with the Mongolian Plover in the eastern part of the range; it has also bred in Alaska. It nests in a bare ground scrape, laying three eggs. This species is strongly migratory, wintering on sandy beaches in east Africa, south Asia and Australasia.