Ringed plover

Description:

Adults are 17-19.5 cm in length with a 35–41 cm wingspan. They have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with one black neckband. They have a brown cap, a white forehead, a black mask around the eyes and a short orange and black bill. The legs are orange and only the outer two toes are slightly webbed.

Habitat:

The Common Ringed Plover's breeding habitat is open ground on beaches or flats across northern Eurasia and in Arctic northeast Canada.These birds forage for food on beaches, tidal flats and fields, usually by sight. They eat insects, crustaceans and worms. I have seen them in several places of the Shtelands. In the first three pics the spotting was in a north beach of Unst. In the last pic the bird was in Fetlar. In this pic you can see the display he makes to try to mimetize with the rocks. He was fanning his tail and sitting down in between rocks to hide.