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Little ringed plover

    Little ringed plover

    Charadrius dubius


Castilian: Chorlitejo chico

Catalan: Corriol petit

Gallego: Píllara pequena

Euskera: Txirritxo txikia


CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Charadriiformes

Family: Charadriidae

Migratory status: Summer resident


CONSERVATION STATUS:

On the National List of Threatened Species, it appears in the “Of Special Interest” category. In the 2004 edition of the Red Book of Spanish Birds (Libro Rojo de las Aves de España) it is listed as “Not Evaluated”.

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listen song


THREATS

Alteration of its habitat due to the construction of dams, river canalization and water pollution, disturbances caused by humans and predation by foxes, rats and wild boar.


Length / size: 15,5-18 cm / 32-35 cm

Identification: Small wader with a short bill and legs that are longer than the width of its body. During mating season, the male's crown is greyish-brown and separated from the back (which is also a greyish colour) by a black collar and a white collar; his forehead is white and surrounded by a black facial disc that is separated from the forehead by another white band; its eye-ring and legs are yellow. In non-mating adults, black is replaced by brown.

Song: It makes a fast "pree-pree-pree" sound; in flight its sound is a slow "creeeeeo".

Diet: It feeds on insects and other small invertebrates which it catches under the surface of river banks.

Reproduction: Breeding takes place between April and September. It nests in banks with pebbles or gravel beaches, in a small depression that it covers with plant matter and small stones. The eggs are cryptic and the chicks, shortly after being born, are able to move about and feed themselves, although they still depend on the care of their parents.


HABITAT

Outside of breeding season, it is found in muddy inland banks and on the coast, but when nesting it prefers riverbanks with pebbles and rocks.


DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: We have the curonicus subspecies in the peninsula. The principal populations are found in Castile-La Mancha, Castile and León, Aragon, Catalonia and Andalusia.

In Castile and León: It breeds in all the provinces, although it is rare in Ávila, Burgos and Segovia.

Movements and migrations: In the interior of the peninsula, European specimens are observed in passage, some of which winter in sothern areas while the rest continues on to western Africa.


POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population of at least 4300 breeding pairs.

In Castile and León: There is an estimated population of 1200 breeding pairs.