Anarhynchus alexandrinus
The Kentish Plover (*Anarhynchus alexandrinus*) is a charmingly diminutive shorebird, measuring approximately 15-17 cm in length with a wingspan of 42-45 cm and weighing 35-50g. Its subtle plumage features pale underparts contrasting with brownish-grey upperparts, a dark, slender bill, and dark legs. Key field marks include a distinctive broken or partial dark breast band, which is more pronounced in males during breeding season, and a black patch at the bend of the wing, often visible agains...
Kentish Plovers primarily inhabit open, sandy beaches, mudflats, saline lagoons, estuaries, and salt pans, typically at low elevations along coastlines and inland salt-affected wetlands.
Their diet consists mainly of small marine and terrestrial invertebrates, including insects (beetles, flies), crustaceans (amphipods, small crabs), polychaete worms, and small mollusks, captured visually or by shallow probing.
Kentish Plovers are diurnal foragers, most active during low tide when they can access exposed mudflats and sand for food. Their characteristic foraging method involves a quick "run-stop-peck" pattern, where they visually locate prey before snatching it from the surface or probing briefly. Males ...
The Kentish Plover (*Anarhynchus alexandrinus*) has a wide, though fragmented, distribution across the Old World. Its breeding range extends from Western Europe (including coastal areas of the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Black Sea) across North Africa, through Central Asia, and eastward to East ...
Least Concern
- The Kentish Plover's name refers to Kent, England, where it was first formally described, although it is now a very rare breeder there. - This species, as *Anarhynchus alexandrinus*, formerly encompassed the Snowy Plover of the Americas (*A. nivosus*) and the White-faced Plover of East Asia (*A...