Kentish plover
Charadrius alexandrinus
Miguel Berkemeier · Costa da Caparica e arredores
Key facts in one look
- Diet
- Insects, crustaceans, molluscs, worms
- Status in Georgia
- Migrant
- Recorded regions
- Shida Kartli; Adjara
- Size
- About 40–44 g
- Habitat
- Sandy and muddy shores of seas and salt lakes
- Family
- Charadriidae
- Conservation
- Global LC (2025); Georgia LC (2024)
The Kentish plover weighs only 40–44 grams and runs along the shore as if it were rolled: it dashes, stops dead and pecks at the ground. It is sandy grey-brown above and white below, with a dark bill and dark legs. The male has a dark patch on each side of the breast that does not meet in the middle, and the female is paler. It is harmless to people. The 2024 Georgian checklist lists it as a migrant. In Georgia it is seen from March to May and in August and September, most often in April. Most records come from Nadarbazevi Lake and the Batumi coast. Both globally and in Georgia it is rated Least Concern (LC), although its global numbers are falling.
Identification
Kentish plover: how to identify it
A small, sand-coloured plover with a white belly, a dark bill and dark legs. The key sign is the dark patches on the sides of the breast, which do not join in the middle. It runs fast along the shore and stops suddenly.
In the breeding season the male has a black bar on the forehead, a black patch by the eye and a rufous nape and crown. It has a dark patch on each side of the breast instead of a full band. The female is paler and lacks the black markings. Towards the end of the breeding season the difference between the sexes fades.
It weighs about 40–44 g. The bill is black and the legs are dark. It is grey-brown above and white below. Its colours blend with the sand and mud of the shore, so it is hard to spot when it stands still.
The little ringed plover has a full black breast band, a yellow ring round the eye and pale legs. The Kentish plover's breast band is broken in the middle and its legs are dark. Its alarm call is a short "kittup", heard both on the ground and in flight.
Colour
Swatches are illustrative. Do not identify a species by colour alone.
It is almost always a bird of the shore: it chooses sandy, pebbly and muddy shores, dunes, lagoons and estuaries. Inland it visits open flats by saline and brackish lakes, salt-pans and bare reservoir shores. It seldom stops at fresh water, even on migration. For nesting it picks low, moist, sparsely vegetated places away from people. It occurs up to 3000 m. In Georgia most records come from Shida Kartli, from Nadarbazevi Lake, in March, April and August. In Adjara it has been seen on the Batumi seashore from April to September. There are single records on the coast near Poti, in Guria and Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, and in Kvemo Kartli at Kumisi Reservoir.
The Kentish plover map combines public iNaturalist observations. Regions are taken from the records-by-region table, and the status column separates regions with enough records from regions with too few records. Record counts reflect observation effort rather than population density. Two regions have enough records: Shida Kartli and Adjara.
Data: Reptiles.ge + iNaturalist · Methodology
- Field observation
- Several records in one spot
- Photo record
- Region with records
It feeds on small invertebrates: insects and their larvae, such as beetles and flies, as well as crustaceans, bivalve and univalve molluscs, marine worms and spiders. It sometimes eats small pieces of seaweed. It hunts by sight: it runs, stops and pecks, sometimes probes the sand with its bill or catches flies with an open bill. Its large eyes let it see well at night too.
Some populations stay in one place, but most inland and northern coastal birds are fully migratory. It stays on its breeding grounds mainly from March to October, and the southward migration peaks in September. In Georgia it is seen from March to May and in August and September. Outside the breeding season it feeds alone or in loose flocks of 20–30 birds, and sometimes joins mixed flocks of up to 260. It nests alone or in loose colonies. The nest is a shallow scrape in the ground, lined with bits of shell, pebbles, grass and leaves. It usually lays 3 eggs. Both parents incubate for 20–25 days: mostly the female by day and the male by night. The chicks run soon after hatching, and one parent, more often the female, often leaves them after about a week while the other raises them alone. When danger comes, a parent runs from the nest and feigns injury to draw the predator towards itself.
Globally the Kentish plover is rated Least Concern (LC, 2025). A 2023 estimate puts the number of mature birds at 216,000–314,000, and the number is falling. The threats are disturbance on the coast, when tourists trample nests and flush roosts, the pollution, drainage and reclamation of wetlands, lower river flows and urbanisation. It is susceptible to avian botulism. The 2024 Georgian checklist also rates it Least Concern (LC) in Georgia.
Diego González Dopico · Zinogre · Miguel Berkemeier · Maksymilian Wojtkiewicz · Luke Foster · Nikita Tiunov · howardyeh
Related guides
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Yes. The 2024 Georgian checklist lists it as a migrant. It is seen from March to May and in August and September, most often in April.
Most records come from Nadarbazevi Lake in Shida Kartli and from the Batumi seashore. There are single records on the coast near Poti and at Kumisi Reservoir. Look for it on open sandy or muddy shores.
By the breast band and the legs. The little ringed plover has a full black breast band, a yellow eye-ring and pale legs. The Kentish plover has only dark patches on the sides of the breast, and its legs are dark.
It is a small plover weighing about 40–44 g. Its sandy colours make it hard to see when it stands still on the shore.
Small invertebrates: insects and their larvae, crustaceans, molluscs, marine worms and spiders. It hunts by sight, running along the shore, stopping and pecking.
On the ground near water, in bare or sparsely vegetated places. The nest is a shallow scrape lined with bits of shell and pebbles. It usually lays 3 eggs, which both parents incubate for 20–25 days.
It is harmless to people. Both globally and in Georgia it is rated Least Concern (LC), although its global numbers are falling. Disturbance on beaches and the loss of wetlands do it the most harm. If you find an injured bird, call 112 or the environmental protection service.
References
What this profile is based on
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
