Snowy Plover (Charadrius nivosus)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology:Charadrius (a bird named in the Vulgate Bible) nivosus ("snowy")

Female Snowy Plover (subspecies C. a. nivosus) at Hayward, California - September 2022

Featured Subspecies: Charadrius nivosus nivosus
Weight: 32-58g  /  Length: 15-17cm  /  Wingspan: 34-43cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Near Threatened

A small plover formerly considered to be a population of Kentish Plover, the Snowy is largely resident in coastal areas, though it also breeds inland in certain areas in the South-West quarter of the USA, and into Mexico, associating with bracking water. It is a species that suffers greatly from human disturbance due to being a beach nester, and as such conservation efforts in the USA have largely centred on protecting sites during breeding season.

Related Species:
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Charadridae
Genus: Charadrius
SUBSPECIES: C. a. nivosus, C. a. occidentalis

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED STATES 
A resident of South and West Coasts, also breeding inland on brackish pools
 - CALIFORNIA 2022 TRIP: Seen at Hayward

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

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Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Charadrius (from the Vulgate Bible) semipalmatus ("partially webbed feet")

Non-breeding plumage Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) at Tarcoles, Costa Rica - November 2025

Featured Subspecies: N/A
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern 
Weight: 22-63g  /  Length: 14-20cm  /  Wingspan: 35-56cm

The semipalmated plover is the equivelent to the Ringed Plover found in Eurasia; a small round plover which breeds on tundra and migrates South in Winter to warmer climates. They have partially webbed feet which is the source of their name.

Related Species:
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Charadridae
Genus: Charadrius
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED STATES 
Breeds in Alaska and Winters along the coast of the Lower 48, appearing as passage in most other locations. 

- CALIFORNIA 2022 TRIP: Seen at Berkeley

COSTA RICA - Spanish - Chorlo Semipalmado ("Semiplamated Plover")
Winters along coasts
- COSTA RICA 2025 TRIP: Seen on the Tarcoles River
 

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

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Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Charadrius (from the Vulgate Bible) vociferus ("vocal")

Adult Killdeer (subspecies C. v. vociferus) at Berkeley, California - August 2022

Featured Subspecies: Charadrius vociferus vociferus
Weight: 72-121g  /  Length: 20-28cm  /  Wingspan: 59-63cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

I must admit that when I first heard the name "killdeer", I was trying to work out precisely how a tiny plover would kill a deer? But in fact this species gets its name from its call with which it is most usually first detected. Relative to other "ringed" type plovers which tend to be closely associated with water, the killdeer breeds on flat open land with low lying vegetation, and even occassionally on the roofs of buildings!

Related Species:
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Charadridae
Genus: Charadrius
SUBSPECIES: C. v. vociferus, C. v. ternominatus, C. v. peruvianus 

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED STATES 
An extremely widely distributed species, resident in much of the Lower 48, and breeding in the majority of the rest and into Alaska.
 - CALIFORNIA 2022 TRIP: Seen at Berkeley, Monterey and Hayward

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

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Eurasian Dotterel (Charadrius morinellus)

OTHER NAMES: Dotterel
Latin Etymology: Charadrius (a bird named in the Vulgate Bible) morinellus ("foolish")

Adult Female Eurasian Dotterel (Charadrius morinellus) at Piddington, Northants - May 2021

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 90-145g  /  Length: 20-22cm  /  Wingspan: 57-64cm
UK RED LIST / IUCN Red List: Least Concern 

Dotterels are one of the scarcest of waders found in the UK - a bird of high mountains that migrates to Northern Africa for the Winter. It is also unusual in that the female is the more brightly coloured, and the male incubates the chicks. Outside the UK it is a widespread species found across much of the Northern reaches of Eurasia, plus in highly mountainous areas. It was historical regarded as a particularly foolish bird due to its tame nature.

Related Species:

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Charadridae

Genus: Charadrius

SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - A very localised breeder in Scottish mountains, and passage migrant elsewhere

 - Two birds on passage seen at Piddington - May 2021.

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

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Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)

OTHER NAMES: N/A

Latin Etymology: Charadrius (a bird named in the Vulgate Bible) alexandrinus ("of Alexandria")

Breeding pair of Kentish Plover (subspecies C. a. alexandrinus) at Laguna del Longar, Spain - April 2016

Featured Subspecies: Charadrius alexandrinus alexandrinus
Weight: 35-45g  /  Length: 15-17cm  /  Wingspan: 42-45cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

The Kentish Plover is a bird whose name is a relic; while this species used to breed in the UK, and notably Kent, that has not been the case for a long time now.  The last continuous breeding ended in the 1940s with it's extinction in the British Isles.  Which is somewhat odd in the context that this remains a fairly widespread breeding species across the coastline of Europe - even on the direct opposite side of the channel.  While broadly a coastal species, it is also found at certain more saline inland sites, such as the Laguna del Longar where I saw them.  Very widely distributed, they are found around the majority of the coast of Eurasia and North Africa - had I been at suitable sites I would have encountered this species easily on my trips to Japan.  

Related Species:

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Charadridae

Genus: Charadrius

Subspecies: C. a. alexandrinus, C. a. nivosus, C. a. tenuirostis

 - Sighting Locations -

SPAIN - Spanish - Chorlitejo patinegro - "Black-footed Plover"
Locally Common Resident

 - MADRID 2016 TRIP: Common at Laguna del Longar  (at least ten birds, many in pairs)

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

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 - May 2026

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

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Common Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)

OTHER NAMES: Ringed Plover, Bull's-Eye, Ring Dotterel, Shell-turner

Latin Etymology: Charadrius (from the Vulgate Bible) hiaticula ("cleft dweller")

Adult Ringed Plover (subspecies C. h. hiaticula) at Herne Bay, Kent -  February 2011

Featured Subspecies: Charadrius hiaticula hiaticula 
Weight: 55-75g  /  Length: 19cm  /  Wingspan: 48-57cm

UK AMBER LIST / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Similar looking to the Little Ringed Plover, the Ringed Plover is a bird much more common on the coast than it's relative, which is more often found on inland gravel pits. However, the two do overlap so don't go by this alone - look closely in your birdbook to find the differences. At Winter around Herne Bay and Reculver they were numerous and often quite easy to photograph.

Related Species:

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Charadridae

Genus: Charadrius
Subspecies: C. h. hiaticula, C. h. tundrae, C. h. psammodromus

- Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - Resident breeding species (5300-5600 pairs) and locally common Winter visitor (36,000 birds)

 - Birds seen at sites including Herne Bay, Oare Marshes, Farne Islands and Elmley Marshes

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

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