Greater Sand-Plover

The greater sand-plover is a sturdy shorebird about 22–25 cm long, with a proportionately large head, thick bill and long legs. Breeding adults show a black face mask, white forehead, grey-brown upperparts and an orange-chestnut breast band; non-breeding birds are sandy grey-brown above and white below. Compared with similar sand-plovers it generally appears larger, longer-legged and heavier-billed, although geographic forms differ noticeably in bill size and breeding colour (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds across dry semi-desert and steppe from Turkey through Central Asia, laying its eggs in a shallow scrape on bare ground. After breeding it migrates to beaches, tidal mudflats and estuaries from East Africa through southern Asia to Australasia. Birds run and pause while taking insects, crustaceans, molluscs and marine worms from the surface. They often gather with other plovers at feeding grounds and communal high-tide roosts during the non-breeding season (Wikipedia, general species account).