Little ringed plover

A Palearctic species inhabiting Europe, Northern Africa and Asia. It winters in the north from 5° southern latitude, and also on peninsula Indostan, Indochina, China and Indonesia.

In Bulgaria, the Little ringed plover is a breeding summer visitor, passage migrant and winter visitor. It is found near water basins in the low parts of the country. Along the Black Sea coast, it breeds along all the beaches, close to fresh water. Along the Struma River have been registered. In the Sofia region it breeds along reservoirs and water basins. In Central Bulgaria it is found along the rivers Maritsa, Dvoynitsa, Stryama, Sokolchitsa, Vacha, Kamchiya, etc. In the Eastern Rhodopes it has been registered along the rivers Krumovitsa, Elbasandere, Arda, Buyukdere and Byala Reka. In Northern Bulgaria it is found along the Vit, Osam and Iskar rivers. It breeds on the banks of the Danube and on most islands.

In Bulgaria, the Little ringed plover reaches dimensions of 14 cm – body length and 46 cm – wingspan. The plumage of the adults is brown on top and white with a black necklace. Their forehead is white and their scalp is black and separated by brown plumage. There is an orange ring around the eye and a white eyebrow above it. The beak is black and the legs are reddish. The juveniles are without a white eyebrow and with a lighter necklace.

The formation of the pairs is at the end of March. Building the nests is in April. The young ones hatch at the end of May. It feeds on coleopterans and their larvae, larvae of caddisflies, worms, small mussels and seeds, etc.

They are found in rivers, streams, permanent freshwater lakes, marshes and water basins, gravelly banks, sand bars, islands, dunes, city regions, regions for the storage of waste waters, canals, drainage canals and more.

Unknown.

The species is included in the Red Book of Bulgaria with the category “Vulnerable” (VU), as well as in Annex 3 of the Biodiversity Act (BDA).

The Little ringed plover is listed in Annex II of the Bern Convention on the Conservation of Wild Fauna and Flora and Natural Habitats. It is also included in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – with the category “Least Concern” (LC).

*Note: For the description of birds is used information from: Golemanski, V. & al. (eds). 2015. Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria. Vol. 2. Animals. BAS & MoEW, Sofia [English ed.: ISBN 978-954-9746-22-8 (IBER – BAS), 978-954-8497-18-3 (MoEW)]; Michev T., D. Simeonov, L. Profirov. 2012. Birds of the Balkan Peninsula. Ecotan, Sofia, 300 pp; the website of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).