Long-billed Plover

Thinornis placidus (Gray, JE & Gray, GR, 1863)

19–20 cmLength

This medium-sized plover has a single black breast-band below the neck and a longer, thicker bill than Little Ringed Plover.

Busiest months: December–January · Most records: China, Japan, South Korea

How to identify

Field marks

White forehead with a single black band between the eyes
A single black breast-band of uniform width below the throat
A single yellow ring around the eye, with a white stripe above
Gray-rufous back; white belly and throat

Male, female and young

Sexes similar. In breeding plumage, the male has broader, more conspicuous black bands on the forehead and breast. Juveniles lack the black forehead band and have a narrower breast-band.

Voice

Very noisy in the breeding season, giving “fi-fi-fi-fi-fi” in flight. The alarm call is a single rising “pyuoo”; when evading threats, it gives calls like “pip-pip-pip”.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: December–January · Most records: China, Japan, South Korea

Long-billed Plover has been recorded at 338 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 7 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Taipei – Tianliaoyang WetlandTaiwan (China)402 records
Okayama – Okayama Korakuen GardenJapan281 records
Saku – Saku Regulating PondJapan155 records

More places

Shahe ReservoirChina153 records
Yokohama – Sakai River Wetland Prefectural ParkJapan120 records
Kawagoe – Lake Isanuma and Isanuma ParkJapan112 records
Mae Taeng Irrigation ProjectThailand94 records
Taipei – Gongliao Dexin TempleTaiwan (China)90 records
Wenyu RiverChina87 records
Hanam – Hangang Migratory Bird Observation PointSouth Korea82 records

Countries and regions with the most records

China Japan South Korea Nepal Thailand India Bhutan

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

About

The long-billed plover (Thinornis placidus) is a species of wading bird in the family Charadriidae. It can be found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan (China), Thailand, and Vietnam. The long-billed plover is a migratory bird, so it breeds and spends the winter in different parts of its range.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Long-billed Plover?

The Long-billed Plover is about 19–20 cm long.

Where does the Long-billed Plover live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic: riverine temperate southeastern Siberia, Hokkaido to Kyushu (northern to southern Japan), northern, central Korean Peninsula, northeastern, east-central China; disjunctly northeastern India. It is most often recorded in China, Japan and South Korea.

When is the best time to see the Long-billed Plover?

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

What family is the Long-billed Plover in?

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

At a glance

Length: 19–20 cm

Range

Palearctic: riverine temperate southeastern Siberia, Hokkaido to Kyushu (northern to southern Japan), northern, central Korean Peninsula, northeastern, east-central China; disjunctly northeastern India

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2