Generally distributed along the shore and in some inland sandy places throughout the British Isles.
RINGED PLOVER
Ægialitis hiaticola
Male (right). Young (left)
THE LITTLE RINGED PLOVER
Ægialitis curonica (J. F. Gmelin)
This species breeds in Scandinavia and throughout Europe, being rather scarcer in the west. To our shores it is only a very occasional straggler, not more than half-a-dozen authenticated instances being known.
It resembles the preceding species, but is rather smaller in size, paler in colour, and the bill is narrower, longer in proportion, and wholly black. The best characteristic, however, is that the shafts of all the primaries, except the outer ones, are dusky, whereas in the Ringed Plover they are all flecked with white to form a conspicuous bar when the wing is opened. Length 6·5 in.; wing 4·5 in.
THE KENTISH PLOVER
Ægialitis cantiana (Latham)
As the Ringed Plover is one of our commonest shore birds, so the present species is one of our rarest, and it will never be met with unless a special journey is made to that lonely stretch of shore, which is its only home in these islands. In habits it is almost the counterpart of the Ringed Plover, but is a true migrant, arriving in April and leaving in September. The note is a short monosyllabic whistle and quite distinct from that of the preceding species.
It is a smaller bird than the Ringed Plover, which it otherwise resembles, except that the dark band across the chest is broken in the centre. Female and young resemble the male, but the band on forehead and chest is brown instead of black, and of the same colour as the upper parts. Length 6·25 in.; wing 4·25 in.