Common ringed plover

Introduction: Common ringed plovers (Charadrius hiaticula) can be found mainly along the coast, especially at estuaries, rocky shores and inland mud and sandbank locations along rivers. They are gregarious and form in flocks of up to 50 birds.
Distribution: Coastal northern Namib Desert but absent from most of the southern coastal desert less for Luderitz and Orange River regions. Found in Etosha National Park, Caprivi, Tsumkwe and many southern and central Namibian ranges.

Diet: Forages by day and night for crabs, molluscs, insects, spiders and small fish.

Description: Blackish brown breast band with dark brown primaries. Often confused with the three-banded plover.

Breeding: The Latin word hiaticula means cleft dwellers, a reference to their habit of breeding amongst pebbles and rocks.

Size: 20cm.

Weight: 50g.