Kentish Plover
Charadrius alexandrinus
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC) via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentish_plover
Overview
The Kentish plover is a small wader of the family Charadriidae that breeds on the shores of saline lakes, lagoons, and coasts, populating sand dunes, marshes, semi-arid desert, and tundra. Both male and female birds have pale plumages with a white underside, grey/brown back, dark legs and a dark bill; however, additionally the male birds also exhibit very dark incomplete breast bands, and dark markings either side of their head, therefore the Kentish plover is regarded as sexually dimorphic.
The Kentish Plover faces severe population declines primarily due to coastal habitat destruction from urban development, tourism infrastructure, and sea-level rise. Human disturbance at nesting sites, predation by introduced species, and pollution of coastal wetlands further threaten breeding success and survival rates.
Habitat
Kentish plovers have an extremely wide geographical distribution and their habitats vary not just spatially but environmentally too. They are known to reside and breed in multiple types of habitat, from desert with ground temperatures reaching 50 °C to tundra. The distribution of this species' breeding areas covers Europe, Asia and Africa. In Europe, populations are typically found in the...
Other threatened species in Charadriidae
Frequently asked questions
Why is Kentish Plover classified as Endangered?
Where does Kentish Plover live?
What are the main threats to Kentish Plover?
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