Caspian plover
Caspian plover | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Charadriiformes |
Family: | Charadriidae |
Genus: | Anarhynchus |
Species: | A. asiaticus
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Binomial name | |
Anarhynchus asiaticus (Pallas, 1773)
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Synonyms | |
Charadrius asiaticus ( protonym )
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The Caspian plover (Anarhynchus asiaticus) is a wader in the plover family of birds. The specific asiaticus is Latin and means "Asian", although in binomials it usually means the type locality was India.[2]
This plover breeds in western and central Asia and migrates southward to eastern and southern Africa to escape the northern winter.
Description
This plover is slightly larger than
Summer males have grey-brown backs and a white face and belly. The breast is chestnut, bordered black below. Other plumages have a grey-brown breast band, although the summer female may show a hint of chestnut. The call is a sharp chip.
Distribution and habitat
The Caspian plover breeds in western Asia in the area of the Caspian Sea. Its range includes southern Russia, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Its habitat is steppes, desert verges, saltpans and saline soils amongst sparse shrubby vegetation up to an altitude of about 800 m (2,625 ft). After breeding, it
Biology
It breeds on open grassland in central Asia, mainly to the north and east of the Caspian Sea. It breeds in loose colonies, with three eggs being laid in a nest on the bare ground or among short vegetation.
It feeds in a similar way to other plovers picking beetles, termites, ants, grasshoppers, small snails and other small prey mainly from the ground. It sometimes eats the seeds of grasses.[3]
Status
The Caspian plover has a very wide range. The number of birds may be declining slowly due to degradation of its breeding range, especially in Europe, however the
It is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (
References
- . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ a b c "Species factsheet: Charadrius asiaticus". BirdLife International. Retrieved 2013-12-17.
External links
- Caspian plover - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.