Greater Sand Plover

Anarhynchus leschenaultii (Lesson, RP, 1826)

This stout plover has long legs and a thick bill, with a single orange band across the male's breast in the breeding season.

Looks like Siberian Sand Plover, Tibetan Sand Plover

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Male has varying amounts of orange on the breast, forehead and nape, and a black mask, in the breeding season
Thick black bill
Long-legged; legs and feet yellowish-green
Male has a sandy back and white belly in the breeding season

Male, female and young

The female is duller and grayer. Winter plumage and juveniles are brownish, with only a slight rufous tinge on the head.

Voice

A soft trill in flight.

Similar species

Siberian Sand Plover

Very similar to Siberian Sand Plover in all plumages; differences in size and shape are obvious in mixed wintering flocks on Indian beaches, making identification straightforward.

Tibetan Sand Plover

Very similar to Tibetan Sand Plover in all plumages; differences in size and shape are obvious in mixed wintering flocks on Indian beaches, making identification straightforward.

Where and when it's recorded

No records at the public birding hotspots we track. It may be rare, remote, or its locations protected.

Questions

Where does the Greater Sand Plover live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic: inland west to east-central Asia: Turkey to eastern Mongolia.

Is the Greater Sand Plover endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Greater Sand Plover as Least Concern.

What family is the Greater Sand Plover in?

It belongs to the family Plovers (Charadriidae), order Charadriiformes.

At a glance

Conservation: Least Concern

Range

Palearctic: inland west to east-central Asia: Turkey to eastern Mongolia

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Subspecies · 1

Anarhynchus leschenaultii leschenaultii nw China (and ?Kyrgyzstan/Tajikistan) to s Siberia and se Mongolia | non-breeding: s Asia to s Japan, Philippines, Indonesian Arch. and Australasia