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Wednesday 8 February 2012

Get Up Close and Personal With The Waders (3)-----Plovers



Many of the Plover family shorebirds are long-distance migratory birds and are often seen feeding on mudflats.  

Kentish Plover



Unlike most of the waders, the Plovers have relatively short bills but big eyes.

Kentish Plover


Little Ringed Plover (Winter Plumage)

Little Ringed Plover (Summer Plumage)


They prefer to keep away from water and are often spotted on dry ground. Unlike the longer billed waders, the plovers hunt by sight.





In order to catch the prey, some Plovers, such as the Little Ringed Plovers, use one of their feet to scratch the ground first,  







and then peck at the disturbed prey with their bill.



11 comments:

Choy Wai Mun said...

Good documentation of their behaviour. Well done.

John @ Beans and I on the Loose said...

I've never got a photo of a plover of any type yet but have observed them doing the scratching thing with their feet. You captured it well.

Millhouse Photography said...

Lovely little birds aren't they.

john said...

Great photos. I know some of your shorebirds by different names. Kentish Plovers are called Snowy Plovers in North America. Grey Plovers=Black-bellied Plovers, Grey Phalaropes=Red Phalaropes, and although not a shorebird, Sand Martin=Bank Swallow.
We also have many look-alike shorebirds, our Spotted Sandpipers look almost identical to Common Sandpipers, Semi-palmated Plovers to Common Ringed Plovers, on and on. Divergent evolution I guess.

Alan Pavey said...

Great set of pics, it's a long time simce I've seen Kentish Plover here in England.

Bob Bushell said...

Great series, the shorebirds are truly beautiful.

Claudia said...

What a wonderful captured series of birds. Congratulations.

Greetings

Birdy Official said...

You have beautifully documented this beautiful little bird.

Andrew said...

Nice series of behaviour shots. Excellent blog - goes from strength to strength!

Giga said...

Bardzo lubię oglądać Twoje obserwacje ptaków w naturze, opisy ich wyglądu oraz zachowań . Ptaki z tego postu bardzo mi się spodobały. Ich upierzenie letnie jest w bardziej żywych kolorach. Zdjęcia też są świetne. Pozdrawiam i dziękuję za miłą i niespodziewaną wizytę. *** I really like to see your observations of birds in nature, descriptions of their appearance and behavior. Birds of this post, I really liked. Their summer plumage is more vivid colors. Pictures are great too. I greet and thank you for a pleasant and unexpected visit.

Celeste said...

Wonderful photos, we learn so much when we just take a little time to observe.
Thank you for sharing.