Species:

Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)

Change species:
Main Images:
Length (cm):
18-20
90-98
Wingspan (cm):
48-57
175-195
Weight (gram):
55-73
1020-2073
Size group:
Thrush-size
Bigger than a crow
Main Texts:
Appearance:

Marked black breast-band and mask. Olive-brown upperparts and white underparts. Easily confused with Little Ringed Plover (especially juveniles). Diagnostic characters in adults are; striking white wing-bars (only faint in Little Ringed Plover), orange base of bill and legs, and no yellow eye-ring. Juveniles also show characteristic wing-bars, white supercilium extends behind the eye, lower part of "mask" is rounded and bill is stouter. Tertials do not cover tips of primaries.

Sound:

Usually heard before seen. Contact call a short, soft "koo-eep", with the emphasised second part higher and rising in pitch. Song a cyclic repetition of the contact call. Sometimes with a shortened phrases and a more creaking timbre.

Flight call:

Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file


Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-sound:Peter Boesman, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Very large, mostly unmistakable bird. Grey upperparts, white underparts and yellow/yellowish bill. Keeps neck retracted when flying (as opposed to crane). May be mistaken for Purple Heron, but back of neck grey, not brown. Bill heavy and dagger-shaped. Neck thicker and less angular than in Purple Heron. Unmarked cheeks.

Sound:

Quite vocal. Most common call a short, far reaching and extremely harsh, rasping sound. At breeding ground a varied repertoire of harsh and clattering sounds.

Flight call:

Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file


Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

Similar species (image):
Similar species (sound):
Silhouette Group:
Waders
Silhouette
Heron-like
Silhouette
Several different images of the species
ImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage
ImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage
Several different sounds of the species
Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file
Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file
Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file