Ringed plover
size:
length: 18-20 centimeters
wingspan: 48-57 centimeters
weight:
64 grams
age:
record: 19 years
food:
worms, lugworms, shellfish, insects and their larvae
reproduction:
maturity: 1 year
number: 4 eggs
- Dut: Bontbekplevier
- Eng: Great Ringed Plover
- Fren: Grand Gravelot
- Ger: Sandregenpfeifer
- Dan: Stor Præsterkrave
- Nor: Sandlo
- Frisian: Bünte Wilster
- Ital: Corriere grosso
- Lat: Charadrius hiaticula
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- Great ringed plover, foto fitis, adriaan dijksen
Ringed plover
A small masked dumpy looking bird is a good description of the ringed plover. However, just like the lapwing, it is a master at distracting enemies away from its simple nest by pretending to be an easy prey. Ringed plovers may be small but they are also bold and venturous. They dribble back and forth over the bare sandy ground, pulling worms and larvae out of the ground. They like to nest on sandy bottoms covered with shells or pebbles. You'll even find them on the pebbly roofs of apartment buildings. Their nest is not much more than a hollow in the sand, in which their four perfectly camouflaged eggs are laid.
On Texel
- ringed plover with hatchlings, Eric Menkveld
In 2012, 25 pairs of ringed plovers nested on the island, primarily along the wadden coast. In 2011, there was a lot of ruckus for one nest in a particularly exceptional spot. One pair of ringed plovers chose the parking area by the entrance to beach 'Paal 17' to build a nest. That wasn't the best choice. Besides being a popular beach to visit, a large catamaran sailing race (Rondje Texel - 'the biggest cat-race in the world') is organized here, in the middle of the nesting season. The State Forestry had the nest fenced off and place warning signs. Via the local newspaper, the Texelse Courant, everyone could follow the ups and downs of the nesting ringed plovers. The relief was great when the eggs hatched one week after the race, totally safe and sound.
- Distribution and habitat
- Great ringed plover, foto fitis, adriaan dijksen
You'll see ringed plovers along the Dutch coast the entire year. Those birds that nest in northern regions fly to Africa in the autumn along the Dutch coast. A relatively small number of these birds spend the winter in the Netherlands. In the spring, they return again on their way back north. A subspecies nests in the Netherlands, preferably on quiet beaches and along the edges of salt marshes in the wadden and delta regions. Since the early 1990s, the numbers have been declining in the delta region. The ringed plover is registered on the Red List of protected birds.
