Birds · Charadriiformes · Charadriidae

Kentish Plover

Charadrius alexandrinus

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The Kentish plover is a small, pale wader that nests directly on the sand of beaches, dunes and saltpans, in a simple scrape with a few shells around it. In Spain its population has fallen sharply through tourist occupation of the coast: its nests coincide exactly with the busiest beaches and with the passage of vehicles and cleaning machinery.

Weight

32 g – 56 g

Size

15 cm – 17 cm

Lifespan

10 years

Diet

Insectivore

Feeds mainly on insects and other invertebrates.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

In pairs

Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

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Fun facts

GeneralIt breeds on the sand of busy tourist beaches, which threatens the species in Spain.
conservaciónIt nests straight onto sandy beaches, hiding its eggs among pebbles and shells, which leaves it very vulnerable to people on a busy coast.
Its nest is a scrape in the sand decorated with small shells and pebbles, and the eggs are so well camouflaged that the main cause of loss on tourist beaches is accidental treading, not predation.
The female usually leaves the brood before the chicks can fly and pairs with another male for a second clutch, leaving the first to raise them alone: an uncommon system of sequential pairing.
In Spain, fencing off breeding areas on beaches and clearing litter by hand instead of by machine are the measures that have worked wherever they have been applied.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Sandy beaches, salt pans, dunes, saltmarsh and brackish lagoons of Eurasia, Africa and the Americas
Sexual maturity: 10.2 months
Gestation / incubation: 24 days
Litter / clutch size: 3

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarhynchus_alexandrinus