Caspian plover
| Caspian plover | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Charadriidae |
| Genus: | Anarhynchus |
| Species: | A. asiaticus
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| Binomial name | |
| Anarhynchus asiaticus (Pallas,1773)
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| Synonyms | |
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Charadrius asiaticus(protonym) | |
TheCaspian plover(Anarhynchus asiaticus) is awaderin theploverfamily ofbirds.The specificasiaticusisLatinand means "Asian", although in binomials it usually means thetype localitywasIndia.[2]
This plover breeds in western and central Asia and migrates southward to eastern and southern Africa to escape the northern winter.
Description
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This plover is slightly larger thanringed plover,and it recallsgreater sandploverandlesser sandploverin appearance. It is slimmer and longer-legged than the sandplovers, and has a much stronger white supercilium, and a long thinbill.It also lacks white tail sides and a weak wing bar.
Summer males have grey-brown backs and a white face and belly. The breast is chestnut, bordered black below. Otherplumageshave a grey-brown breast band, although the summer female may show a hint of chestnut. The call is a sharpchip.
Distribution and habitat
[edit]The Caspian plover breeds in western Asia in the area of the Caspian Sea. Its range includes southern Russia, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Its habitat is steppes, desert verges, saltpans and saline soils amongst sparse shrubby vegetation up to an altitude of about 800 m (2,625 ft). After breeding, itmigratesto eastern and southern Africa, going as far as theZambezi River.Its winter quarters are usually dry grassland, coastal dunes, saltmarshes, dry floodplains and sometimes cultivated land.[3]This plover is a very rare vagrant to westernEurope.It is also a rare vagrant toAustralia.
Biology
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It breeds on opengrasslandin centralAsia,mainly to the north and east of theCaspian Sea.It breeds in loose colonies, with three eggs being laid in a nest on the bare ground or among short vegetation.
It feeds in a similar way to other plovers pickingbeetles,termites,ants,grasshoppers,smallsnailsand other small prey mainly from the ground. It sometimes eats the seeds of grasses.[3]
Status
[edit]The Caspian plover has a very wide range. The number of birds may be declining slowly due to degradation of its breeding range, especially in Europe, however theIUCNlists it as being ofLeast Concern"because it does not consider the rate of decline justifies putting it in a more threatened category.[3]
It is one of the species to which theAgreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds(AEWA) applies.
References
[edit]- ^BirdLife International (2018)."Charadrius asiaticus".IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.2018:e.T22693868A131930637.doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22693868A131930637.en.Retrieved12 November2021.
- ^Jobling, James A (2010).The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names.London: Christopher Helm. pp. 57, 99.ISBN978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^abc"Species factsheet:Charadrius asiaticus".BirdLife International.Retrieved2013-12-17.
External links
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- Caspian plover -Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.