Kentish Plover

Anarhynchus alexandrinus (Linnaeus, 1758)

This small shorebird has a white belly and gray-rufous back, with an incomplete dark breast-band in the male during the breeding season.

Busiest months: April · Most records: China, Spain, Portugal

How to identify

Field marks

Male has a dark breast-band that does not form a complete ring
Male has a reddish-brown crown and a black headband in the breeding season
White belly and gray-rufous back
Black bill and dark legs and feet

Male, female and young

The male has a dark breast-band and head markings; these areas are paler in the female and lack dark markings.

Voice

An alarm call of “kittup”, often combined with “tweet”, sounding like “too-eet”.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: April · Most records: China, Spain, Portugal

Kentish Plover has been recorded at 1,485 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 98 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Desembocadura del Guadalhorce – ÁreaSpain3,819 records
Eilat – KM20 Flamingo Pools 20Israel3,388 records
International Birding and Research Center Eilat (IBRCE)Israel3,148 records

More places

Paul do Cabo da PraiaPortugal2,586 records
Private estate near Green MubazzarahUnited Arab Emirates2,295 records
El Estrecho PNat – Los LancesSpain2,024 records
Pak Thale Nature ReserveThailand1,967 records
Aogu Wetland IBATaiwan (China)1,625 records
Hualien River Estuary IBATaiwan (China)1,544 records
Nanhui DongtanChina1,483 records

Countries and regions with the most records

China Spain Portugal Israel United Arab Emirates India Thailand Greece

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

Questions

Where does the Kentish Plover live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic, Africa, Oriental: widespread, coastal and inland southern Palearctic to northeastern, South Asia. It is most often recorded in China, Spain and Portugal.

When is the best time to see the Kentish Plover?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in April (Northern Hemisphere).

What family is the Kentish Plover in?

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

Range

Palearctic, Africa, Oriental: widespread, coastal and inland southern Palearctic to northeastern, South Asia

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Subspecies · 2

Anarhynchus alexandrinus alexandrinus coastal w Europe (formerly British Isles), Macaronesia (w of nw Africa), n Africa, sporadically to Senegal; inland through c Asia to nw, nc Indian subcontinent, n, c Mongolia and n China | non-breeding: n Africa and s Asia
Anarhynchus alexandrinus nihonensis Sakhalin and Kuril Is. (se Russia), Hokkaido through Ryukyu Is. (=Nansei Shoto; n to s Japan), Korean Pen., ne, e China and Taiwan (China) | non-breeding: to Philippines and Indonesian Arch.