Oriental Plover

Anarhynchus veredus

Family: Plovers and Lapwings · Status: Vagrant · Size: 22–25 cm · Conservation: Least Concern

Range

Breeds in Mongolia and adjacent parts of China and Russia. Winters mostly in northern Australia; passage records in Southeast Asia are scarce, suggesting most birds make a nonstop flight to wintering grounds.

Identification

Non-breeding adult vaguely resembles Lesser and Greater Sand Plovers but larger and slimmer-looking with longer neck and legs, taller stance, slimmer and longer bill, buffish-brown upper breast, longer and more pronounced supercilium and yellowish-orange legs and feet. Upperparts unmarked brown, unlike Pacific Golden Plover. Male in breeding plumage has white head and neck, and distinctive rufous-chestnut breast-band with broad black lower border. Female in breeding plumage resembles non-breeding adult but lacks black lower border to breast-band.

Habitat

Mudflats, sandy shores, and grasslands.