Little Ringed Plover

Common Name	Little Ringed PloverBirdlife International
Species name	Charadrius dubiusBirdlife International
Family	Charadriidae
Genus
Local Name	Country Appearance Local name Brunei Darussalam     Cambodia     China     Indonesia     Japan Yes コチドリ Lao PDR     Malaysia     Mongolia     Myanmar     Philippines     Republic of Korea     Singapore     Thailand     Vietnam

 

Visual and Sound Image

Photos

 

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Sounds

 

Identification

No descriptions

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Range Description

No descriptions

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Ecology

Ecology (Behaviour)

This species is fully migratory in much of its range. The European and North African populations migrate across the Sahara Desert between late-July and early-September (leaving breeding grounds June to mid-July) to reach wintering grounds in tropical Africa from late-August onwards1. These population return to their breeding grounds from mid-March, where they breed April-June (Europe) or March-May (North Africa)1. Siberian and other Asian populations migrate to wintering grounds in South-East Asia and India (only crossing Japan on the northward return migration)1. Some populations in South-East Asia, India, New Guinea and the Philippines do not migrate but are sedentary or locally nomadic in response to water levels1. This species is mainly solitary throughout the non-breeding season and on migration, occasionally occurring in flocks of not more than 10 individuals1, 4, 5. It also breeds singly or in loose neighbourhood groups spaced 7-200 m apart1.

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Habitat

<Breeding> During the breeding season this species shows a preference for bare or sparsely vegetated sandy and pebbly shores of shallow standing freshwater pools, lakes or slow-flowing rivers1, 3, 5, 6, including river islands, dry, stony riverbeds, sand, shingle or silt flats1, 3, dry wadis and dune slacks5. This species may also utilise temporary artificial habitats such as gravel pits1, 5, 8 , sewage works, industrial wastelands1, 5 and refuse tips4, 5, and may use open arable land on clay soil in exceptional circumstances3 (resident populations in India it can be found on wet grassland and rice paddy-fields)6. The species prefers lowland habitats and is rarely found above 800 m in Europe1, 5, but where river banks, dry riverbeds, or islets offer suitable habitat it will penetrate further upstream, reaching higher than 2,000 m in Afghanistan (e.g. in the mountains of Kashmir where it occurs along the pebbly banks of fast-flowing mountain torrents)3, and even higher in the east Palearctic5. The species generally avoids rough or broken terrain, forest, cultivated land or pastures, and tall or dense vegetation including vegetated margins of inland waters5. It is also very rarely found on the coast, although it may occasionally visit saline inland pools and flats, intertidal areas on the seashore, mudflats, tidal creeks and brackish estuaries or lagoons (in India for example)1, 5, 6.
<Non-breeding> In its African wintering grounds this species favours extensive sandbanks3, muddy and sandy shores of rivers and lakes, residual flood waters, short grassy areas on dry ground around villages or near water, airfields and pastures2, 7. It less commonly inhabits coastal areas such as saltpans, estuaries, creeks or rainwater pools on dry salt-flats bordering mangroves2. The species prefers lowland habitats during the winter as well as during the breeding season and is rarely found above 800 m in its wintering range7.

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Diet

The species is carnivorous, its diet consisting mainly of insects such as beetles, flies (especially larvae and pupae), ants, bugs, mayfly and dragonfly larvae, caddisflies, crickets and larval Lepidoptera, as well as spiders, freshwater shrimps and other small crustaceans, mussels, worms and snails1, 2, 3, 5. Vegetation (such as the seeds of grasses, sedges, Polygonum and Compositae) is taken rarely and is likely to be ingested incidentally along with animal matter5.

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Breeding Site

The nest is a shallow scrape on loose sand, dry mud or on flat, bare rocks surrounded by mud or sand2, 3, sometimes amongst sparse vegetation1, 6 in the vicinity of water, and often on small islands1 or adjacent farmland4. Nesting pairs have also been recorded on flat gravelled roofs5.

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References

1. del Hoyo et al. (1996). 2. Urban et al. (1986). 3. Johnsgard, (1981). 4. Hayman et al. (1986). 5. Cramp and Simmons (1983). 6. Grimmett et al. (1998). 7. Hockey et al. (2005). 8. Ratcliffe (1974). 9. Barter (2002). 10. Hubalek et al. (2005). 11. Tanabe et al. (1998). 12. Barter (2006).

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Status

International Status

IUCN Red List Category

LC

Justification

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
<Trend justification> The overall population trend is stable, although some populations have unknown trends (Wetlands International 2006).

 

National Status

Country	Category	Reference
Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
China
Indonesia
Japan
Korea
Lao PDR
Malaysia
Mongolia
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam

 

Management

Threat

This species is threatened primarily by the degradation and loss of its preferred habitats1, 9. Many of the species' breeding sites are also disturbed by human recreational activities1. Increased flood regulation and pollution from oil and tar along the Mediterranean coast and the River Jordan has resulted in the degradation of the breeding sites in those areas1. In China and South Korea important migrational staging areas around the coast of the Yellow Sea are being lost through land reclamation and degraded as a result of declining river flows (from water abstraction), increased pollution, unsustainable harvesting of benthic fauna and a reduction in the amount of sediment being carried into the area by the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers9, 12. The species may also be susceptible to outbreaks of avian botulism10, and is potentially at risk from exposure to DDT's in southern India11.

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Information

No descriptions

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Current Conservation

No descriptions

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Current Conservation

No descriptions

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Legal Protection

Country	Status	Reference
Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
China
Indonesia
Japan
Korea
Lao PDR
Malaysia	Protected Wild Birds Part I: Game Birds	Law of Malaysia Act 76, Protection of Wild Life Act 1972 (Amend. 2006)
Mongolia
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam

 

Related Links

 

Range

Geographical Information

Migration Route

 

Asian Waterbird Census

Descriptions

The Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) was initiated in 1987 and runs in parallel with other waterbird censuses carried out in Africa, Europe, Central and West Asia and Latin America under the umbrella of the International Waterbird Census (IWC), which is organised by Wetlands International.

The AWC takes place annually, during the second and third weeks of January, and is carried out by volunteers interested in collecting information on waterbirds and wetlands as a basis for contributing to their conservation.

Reference: Li, Z.W.D., Bloem, A., Delany S., Martakis G. and Quintero J. O. 2009. Status of Waterbirds in Asia - Results of the Asian Waterbird Census: 1987-2007. Wetlands International, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Census Data

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual	125	226	164	147	118	100		84	7	24	16	27	35				34					10
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)	2	3	3	2	4	4		3	2	2	1	2	2				3					3
The total number of count sites	2	3	3	2	4	4	0	4	4	4	4	5	5	0	0	0	9	0	0	1	0	9
CAMBODIA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual								4			1			7	87	30	16		62	17	36
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)								1			1			1	5	5	1		3	4	3
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	11	0	0	12	12	11	5	1	6	9	6	6
CHINA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual			68	5	58	109	20	13			305							546	36	31	81	2
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)			1	2	2	2	2	1			1							4	5	7	8	1
The total number of count sites	0	1	34	12	50	60	67	29	6	14	6	15	21	20	14	10	22	45	80	81	59	72
INDONESIA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual					18	2	11	8	2		174			54			20			7		7
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)					2	1	3	3	2		3			3			1			2		2
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	1	19	8	17	17	15	19	16	0	0	47	12	10	40	34	14	16	15	23
JAPAN	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual								1	2	5	40	4	18	2	331	287	382	152	291	28	17	48
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)								1	2	2	3	1	2	1	19	20	19	16	15	9	5	12
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	53	39	52	47	20	50	40	47	37	41	37	107	112	103	109	97	159	142	137
LAO PDR	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual						3		33	2						19	43				20
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)						1		2	1						6	1				1
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	2	4	5	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	14	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
MALAYSIA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual				406	270	302	199	31	50	32	11			36	122	18	20	98	147	95	155	126
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)				17	14	13	19	5	4	3	2			2	10	6	3	10	10	14	10	8
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	59	68	93	85	17	10	7	10	0	0	20	25	25	25	43	43	82	82	40
MYANMAR	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual		13			6	311	320	150	1024	49		25			63	229	201	137	165	171	255	88
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)		2			2	4	4	4	6	3		1			4	12	14	16	9	13	19	6
The total number of count sites	0	5	3	12	17	15	21	20	13	12	2	4	2	0	7	32	47	73	24	31	32	19
PHILIPPINES	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual						10										1				80		38
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)						1										1				1		1
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	0	19	21	34	39	46	47	39	28	29	32	43	38	50	47	56	54	65	108
SINGAPORE	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual					27	135	60	79	75	4	56	35	18	28	9	156	20	9	10	5	21	2
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)					4	6	5	6	5	1	4	1	2	4	2	4	3	1	2	1	1	1
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	0	4	12	17	15	13	14	10	10	6	11	10	10	8	9	9	8	8	7
REPUBLIC OF KOREA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	10	12	22	20	20	15	10	22	25	22	14	68	99	112	118	116	117	123	127	127
THAILAND	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual	288	533	15	945	147	109	215	277	35		79	153		2	94	223	37	162	201	897	475	232
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)	7	7	1	11	10	5	11	8	4		4	2		1	2	3	3	8	9	25	29	14
The total number of count sites	10	8	3	20	26	12	23	16	17	5	9	3	1	1	7	3	9	26	20	82	99	33
VIETNAM	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual				1	25		150	2		8	6			13	165	124	441			219	206	15
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)				1	2		1	1		1	1			2	1	1	3			3	5	2
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	1	2	0	1	4	0	1	1	0	1	8	2	2	16	4	4	9	6	11

 

Population

Descriptions

 

Population Trend

 

Additional Information

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Climate change species distributions

 

Other Information

• Detailed species account from Birds in Europe: population estimates, trends and conservation status (BirdLife International 2004)