Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius)

OTHER NAMES: N/A

Latin Etymology: Charadrius (from the Vulgate Bible) dubius (thought by Sonnerat to be a Ringed Plover race)

 Little Ringed Plover (subspecies C. d. curonicus) at Frampton Marshes, Lincolnshire - August 2023

Featured Subspecies: Charadrius dubius curonicus
Weight: 33-44g  /  Length: 15-18cm  /  Wingspan: 32-35cm

UK GREEN LIST / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

A very small plover (hence the name) which looks superficially like the similar ringed plover. The main differences on sight are the dark beak and the upper white bar on its head connects around the forehead.  It is much more of an inland regular than it's larger counterpart and favours gravel pits as much as the coast. It is a summer migrant. It's small size can make it a little difficult to photograph well as you'd need to get comparatively close to get a good shot.

Related Species:

Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Charadridae
Genus: Charadrius
Subspecies: C. d. curonicus, C. d. jerdoni, C. d. dubius

- Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - Locally common breeding Summer migrant (1200-1300 pairs))

 - Seen in Summer at Rutland Water and Summerleys Reserve

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto