# Collared plover > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Collared_plover > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Collared_plover.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collared_plover > Source revision: 1355295207 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | image = Charadrius collaris.jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2020 |title=''Charadrius collaris'' |volume=2020 |article-number=e.T22693842A163622696 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22693842A163622696.en |access-date=13 November 2021}} | genus = Anarhynchus | species = collaris | authority = ([Vieillot](/source/Louis_Pierre_Vieillot), 1818) | range_map = Charadrius collaris map.svg | synonyms = ''Charadrius collaris'' ([protonym](/source/protonym)) }} The '''collared plover''' ('''''Anarhynchus collaris''''') is a small [shorebird](/source/shorebird) in the [plover](/source/plover) [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)), Charadriidae. It lives along coasts and riverbanks of the [tropical](/source/tropical) to [temperate](/source/temperate) [Americas](/source/Americas), from central [Mexico](/source/Mexico) south to [Chile](/source/Chile) and [Argentina](/source/Argentina). This small plover is {{convert|18|cm|in}} long and weighs {{convert|35|g|oz}}. Its upperparts are brown and the underparts white in all plumages. Adults have a black breast band. The male has a white forehead, bordered above by a black frontal bar, and below by a black stripe from the [bill](/source/beak) to the eye. The mid-crown and nape are chestnut and the legs are yellow. In flight, the [flight feather](/source/flight_feather)s are dark with a white wing bar, and the tail shows white sides. The female collared plover is usually very similar to the male, but some individuals can be sexed by a brown tinge to the black areas. Immature birds lack any black on the head, and the breast band is replaced by brown patches on each side of the chest. The flight call is a sharp metallic ''pip''. Two [sympatric](/source/sympatric) ''[Charadrius](/source/Charadrius)'' species are very similar: The [snowy plover](/source/snowy_plover) is similar in size and structure to this species, but is paler above, has dark legs, and never has a complete breastband. [semipalmated plover](/source/semipalmated_plover)s are larger, thicker-billed, and has a pale collar. Ironically, it is the ''lack'' of a pale collar which gives the collared plover its [English language](/source/English_language) and scientific names. The collared plover is found on sandy coasts, [estuarine](/source/estuarine) mud, inland riverbanks and open sandy [savanna](/source/savanna)s. It breeds from [Mexico](/source/Mexico) south through [Central America](/source/Central_America) and most of [South America](/source/South_America). It also occurs on some of the southern [Caribbean](/source/Caribbean) islands, and both [Trinidad](/source/Trinidad) and [Tobago](/source/Tobago). It appears to be mainly sedentary, although there is some evidence for limited [seasonal movements](/source/bird_migration). Collared plovers feed on [insect](/source/insect)s and other [invertebrate](/source/invertebrate)s, which are obtained by a run-and-pause technique, rather than the steady probing of some other wader groups. This species is not particularly gregarious, and seldom forms [flock](/source/flock_(behavior))s. It is usually very wary. The timing of breeding activity varies depending on location: November to December in western Mexico, March to June in Costa Rica,{{cite book |last1=Stiles |first1=F. Gary |last2=Skutch |first2=Alexander Frank |year=1989 |title=A guide to the birds of Costa Rica |publisher=Comstock |location=Ithaca |isbn=978-0-8014-9600-4 |page=139}} January in Venezuela, and March in the lowlands of Ecuador. The male's courtship display involves fluffing out his breast feathers and running after the female; the species has no known aerial display.{{cite book |last1=Hayman |first1=Peter |last2=Marchant |first2=John |last3=Prater |first3=Tony |year=1986 |title=Shorebirds: an identification guide to the waders of the world |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston |isbn=978-0-395-60237-9 |page=296}} The [nest](/source/bird_nest) is a bare ground [scrape](/source/bird_nest) well above the [tide](/source/tide) or flood line on coasts and river shores or [island](/source/island)s, or inland, often next to low cover, such as tufts of [grass](/source/grass). The [clutch](/source/clutch_(eggs)) is two pale buff [eggs](/source/bird_egg), spotted with brown. Like many ground-nesting species, adults perform a [broken-wing display](/source/broken-wing_display) to lure presumed threats away from their nest and young.{{cite journal |last1=Greeney |first1=Harold F. |last2=Gelis |first2=Rudolphe A. |last3=White |first3=Richard |year=2004 |title=Notes on breeding birds from an Ecuadorian lowland forest |journal=[Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club](/source/Bulletin_of_the_British_Ornithologists'_Club) |volume=124 |issue=1 |pages=28–37 |url=http://depts.washington.edu/nhrg/Greeney,%20Gelis%20%26%20White%202004.pdf |access-date=2008-03-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725122009/http://depts.washington.edu/nhrg/Greeney,%20Gelis%20%26%20White%202004.pdf |archive-date=2008-07-25 }} ==Footnotes== {{Reflist}} ==References== * ffrench, Richard; O'Neill, John Patton & Eckelberry, Don R. (1991): ''A guide to the birds of Trinidad and Tobago'' (2nd edition). Comstock Publishing, Ithaca, N.Y.. {{ISBN|0-8014-9792-2}} * Hilty, Steven L. (2003): ''Birds of Venezuela''. [Christopher Helm](/source/Helm_Identification_Guides), London. {{ISBN|0-7136-6418-5}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q1264712}} collared plover Category:Birds of the Americas collared plover collared plover --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Collared plover](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collared_plover) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collared_plover?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.