Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)
Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)
Long-legged and compact plover with short rear-end and thin, black bill. Breast-band (or rather breast patches) usually incomplete and broken, and narrow. Leaves an overall pale impression compared to congeners. The white forehead in adults reaches all the way to the bill. Breeding male with rufous neck patch, distinct black facial markings and black breast-band. Female more diffusely coloured in brown, with slightly darker breast-band. Immature even duller. Tal shorter than Ringed Plover with substantially more white on edges. Legs darker than congeners (blackish when breeding), but may be greenish in immature birds. Can be identified by profile alone with some experience, by combination of long legs, short and compact body and flat forehead. Lifts legs well clear of ground when running, giving it's rapid gait a bicycling feel.
Sound:Contact calls more frequently heard than song, with two distinct calls. A short and soft ascending whistle resembling chiff-chaff is often heard from the ground, and a hard and rolling "prrrrt" if flushed (or just a short "tip"). Song a hard and rolling sequence resembling Dunlin song, but less nasal and more pulsating.
Song:
Distribution:
Xeno-canto: map
Ecology:Birdlife ecology
Links:
Observation.org Latest observations
Image search Flickr NB! May give other species
CCMost likely to be confused with Black-tailed Godwit, but easily recognized in flight by plain dark wings, white wedge on back and barred tail. More difficult to identify when not flying. Generally more compact, heavier built and less upright than Black-tailed, and with clearly upcurved bill and shorter legs. Belly always unmarked. Base of bill dark in summer and pinkish in winter and in juveniles. Back with arrow-shaped streaking. Adult winter also streaked, and the pale supercilium reaches behind the eye.
Sound:Quite vocal at breeding ground but mostly silent elsewhere. Varied repertoire of mewing and sharp sounds, some resembling Black-tailed, some almost Snipe-like. Contact call a sharp "kwee-kee-wee-kee", with alternating high and low pitch, and decreasing intensity. Display call a hard and sharp "kuwek-kuwek-kuwek-kuwek", with emphasis on second syllable.
Display:
Distribution:
Xeno-canto: map
Ecology:Birdlife ecology
Links:
Observation.org Latest observations
Image search Flickr NB! May give other species
CCSounds:Recorded by Patrick Åberg,http://www.xeno-canto.org ,CC license