Plovers, Lapwings & Dottorel
Grey Plover
Maltese name/s
Scientific binomen
Order
Family
Sighting occurrence
Info*
Usually seen individually.
Summer plumage unmistakable, with black underparts framed in white, with white and grey-speckled upperparts. Diagnostic in all plumages are the black armpits, which are clearly visible in flying birds. Also shows white wing-bars and very pale tail, with some barring. Winter-plumaged and juvenile birds speckled in grey with white underparts. Can be mistaken for Golden Plover. Especially the juveniles, which may have faint golden tone to plumage. Note instead heavier bill with swollen tip and bulkier body.
Diet
Small crustaceans, marine worms and molluscs, occasionally insects and earthworms, obtained by probing and gleaning. During the breeding season the diet is predominantly adult and larval insects. They feed during the day, and also at night.
Longevity record
25 years 7 months (Found dead in the UK, DS 08723)
Usually seen in
March - May, August - November
Occasionally seen in
December - January
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Length (cm):
Wingspan (cm):
Weight (g):
26 - 29
56 - 63
135 - 227
Eurasian Golden Plover
Maltese name/s
Scientific binomen
Order
Family
Sighting occurrence
Info*
Usually seen in groups, flocks or sometimes individually.
Unmistakable in breeding plumage with golden, speckled upperparts and white-bordered black throat and belly. Male generally blacker than female, but due to regional differences, some females may be darker than males from other areas. Juveniles and birds in winter plumage, lacks the black underparts, and could be mistaken for Grey Plover. Differs from that species in more golden coloured back, less heavy bill and neck and by being slightly smaller. In flight easily told apart from Grey Plover and Pacific Golden Plover by white axillaries.
Diet
Golden plover mainly eat insects and their larvae, worms and spiders, and a small amount of grass seeds and berries.
Longevity record
13 years 9 months (Found dead in Iceland, 624564)
Pluviera
Pluvialis apricaria
Charadriiformes
Charadriidae
Fairly common
Usually seen in
October - March
Occasionally seen in
April - May, August - September
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Streaked throat and breast, white belly in winter adults.
Black buffs and 'golden' trims on back and upperwings. Streaked throat and breast, white belly in winter adults. Juveniles will have a streaked dirty belly. Juveniles
Black buffs and 'golden' trims on back and upperwings. Streaked throat and breast, white belly in winter adults.
Streaked throat and breast, white belly in winter adults.
Length (cm):
Wingspan (cm):
Weight (g):
25 - 28
53 - 59
160 - 220
Pacific Golden Plover
Maltese name/s
Scientific binomen
Order
Family
Sighting occurrence
Info*
Usually seen individually.
The Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria) is very similar in colour as the Eurasian Golden Plover, but is smaller, slimmer and relatively longer-legged than, and has grey rather than white axillary feathers (only properly visible in flight).
Diet
On breeding grounds, feeds mostly on insects, including beetles, flies, and others, also some berries. In migration in open fields, eats wide variety of insects, including grasshoppers, caterpillars. On shores, also feeds on small crustaceans and mollusks. During migration seasons, may eat many berries.
Longevity record
21 years 3 months (Euring)
Usually seen in
-
Occasionally seen in
September - January
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Length (cm):
Wingspan (cm):
Weight (g):
21 - 25
53 - 59
100 - 230
Eurasian Dotterel
Maltese name/s
Scientific binomen
Order
Family
Sighting occurrence
Info*
Usually seen individually or in small groups.
Clearly smaller than Golden plover. Easily identified by broad white supercilium, white breast band and rusty brown underparts. Female more richly coloured than male. Winter plumage and juveniles pale, with scaled back and light underparts. Short, broad, rounded tail and slightly rounded wings visible in flight. Reversed sexual roles.
Diet
Insects and other small invertebrates such as snails and worms and shellfish. These are obtained by a run-and-pause technique, rather than the steady probing used by other waders.
Longevity record
11 years 9 months (Found dead in the UK, XR 45242)
Birwina
Charadrius morinellus
Charadriiformes
Charadriidae
Scarce
Usually seen in
August - November
Occasionally seen in
December - January, March - April
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The dark crown, broader white contrasting supercilium and rufous edges on scapulars indicate an adult in summer plumage.
Grey unstreaked throat, broad white stripe on chest, orange rufous breast and flanks, black belly and white rump in summer adults.
Grey unstreaked throat, broad white stripe on chest, orange rufous breast and flanks, black belly and white rump in summer adults.
The dark crown, broader white contrasting supercilium and rufous edges on scapulars indicate an adult in summer plumage.
Length (cm):
Wingspan (cm):
Weight (g):
20 - 24
57 - 64
110 - 155
Common Ringed Plover
Maltese name/s
Scientific binomen
Order
Family
Sighting occurrence
Info*
Usually seen individually or in small groups.
Marked black breast-band and mask. Olive-brown upperparts and white underparts. Easily confused with Little Ringed Plover (especially juveniles). Diagnostic characters in adults are; striking white wing-bars (only faint in Little Ringed Plover), orange base of bill and legs, and no yellow eye-ring. Juveniles also show characteristic wing-bars, white supercilium extends behind the eye, lower part of "mask" is rounded and bill is stouter. Tertials do not cover tips of primaries.
Diet
Small invertebrates, insects, spiders, slugs and snails.
Longevity record
20 years 10 months (Ring read in the field in the UK, BV 85945)
Monakella Prima
Charadrius hiaticula
Charadriiformes
Charadriidae
Fairly common
Usually seen in
April - May, August - September
Occasionally seen in
March, June - July, October - November
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Length (cm):
Wingspan (cm):
Weight (g):
17 - 20
35 - 41
49 - 64
Little Ringed Plover
Maltese name/s
Scientific binomen
Order
Family
Sighting occurrence
Info*
Usually seen individually or in small groups.
Differs from Ringed Plover by bright yellow eyering (adults),only faint wing-bars, long tertials (covering the primaries) and slimmer more elongated body shape. Apart from the diagnostic eyering, adults show white band across crown, brown-grey legs (not orange) and dark bill. Juveniles also show only faint wing-bars, supercilium is faint, especially behind the eye, lower part of "mask" is pointed and bill is slimmer.
Diet
Insects, crustaceans and worms.
Longevity record
13 years (Finland, KT-453)
Monakella
Charadrius dubius
Charadriiformes
Charadriidae
Fairly common
Usually seen in
March - May, September - October
Occasionally seen in
January, all other months for resident birds
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Length (cm):
Wingspan (cm):
Weight (g):
15 - 18
32 - 35
33 - 44
Northern Lapwing
Maltese name/s
Scientific binomen
Order
Family
Sighting occurrence
Info*
Usually seen individually, in small groups but also in flocks.
Unmistakable. Dark green (appears black at a distance) above and white below. Wings also dark above and white below, with diagnostic rounded and broad tips. Squarish head profile with striking crest. Winter and juvenile plumage with scaled back, and less contrasting breast band.
Diet
Northern lapwing feeds on invertebrates such as earth worms and insects. It also consumes beetles (larvae and adults), ants, flies, moths, crickets, and also spiders and snails. They usually feed in cultivated areas and both during day and night
Longevity record
24 years 6 months (Denmark)
Venewwa
Vanellus vanellus
Charadriiformes
Charadriidae
Scarce
Usually seen in
November - February
Occasionally seen in
March, October
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Length (cm):
Wingspan (cm):
Weight (g):
28 - 31
67 - 72
170 - 230
Caspian Plover
Maltese name/s
Scientific binomen
Order
Family
Sighting occurrence
Info*
Usually seen individually.
This plover is slightly larger than ringed plover. Summer males have grey-brown backs and a white face and belly. The breast is chestnut, bordered black below. Other plumages have a grey-brown breast band, although the summer female may show a hint of chestnut. The call is a sharp chip.
Diet
It feeds in a similar way to other plovers picking beetles, termites, ants, grasshoppers, small snails and other small prey mainly from the ground. It sometimes eats the seeds of grasses.
Longevity record
-
Birwina tal-Asja
Charadrius asiaticus
Charadriiformes
Charadriidae
Vagrant
Usually seen in
-
Occasionally seen in
March - November
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Length (cm):
Wingspan (cm):
Weight (g):
19 - 21
55 - 61
60 - 91
Kentish Plover
Maltese name/s
Scientific binomen
Order
Family
Sighting occurrence
Info*
Usually seen individually or in pairs.
Long-legged and compact plover with short rear-end and thin, black bill. Breast-band (or rather breast patches) usually incomplete and broken, and narrow. Leaves an overall pale impression compared to congeners. The white forehead in adults reaches all the way to the bill. Breeding male with rufous neck patch, distinct black facial markings and black breast-band. Female more diffusely coloured in brown, with slightly darker breast-band. Immature even duller. Tal shorter than Ringed Plover with substantially more white on edges. Legs darker than congeners (blackish when breeding), but may be greenish in immature birds. Can be identified by profile alone with some experience, by combination of long legs, short and compact body and flat forehead. Lifts legs well clear of ground when running, giving it's rapid gait a bicycling feel.
Diet
Their main source of food consists of miniature aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates such as insects and their larvae (e.g. beetles, grasshoppers or flies), molluscs, crustaceans, spiders and marine worms. They are obligate visual foragers and often feed at the shoreline of lakes, lagoons or ponds in invertebrate-rich moist-soil areas.
Longevity record
19 years (Read in the field in Sweden, 3247244)
Monakella Saqajha Suwed
Charadrius alexandrinus
Charadriiformes
Charadriidae
Very scarce
Usually seen in
March - May
Occasionally seen in
July - December
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Length (cm):
Wingspan (cm):
Weight (g):
15 - 18
40 - 45
32 - 56
*Some information was sourced from ''BirdID Nord University''.