Caspian plover
Charadrius asiaticus
Alexander Abuladze · Sagarejo, Kakheti Georgia field photo
Key facts in one look
- Diet
- Beetles, termites, ants, grasshoppers, snails
- Status in Georgia
- Rare, casual visitor
- Size
- Slightly larger than the common ringed plover; about 75 g
- Habitat
- Steppes, semi-deserts, salt pans
- Family
- Charadriidae
- Conservation
- Global LC (2018); Georgia NE
The Caspian plover (Charadrius asiaticus) breeds in the steppes and semi-deserts north and east of the Caspian Sea and spends the winter in eastern and southern Africa. In Georgia it is a rare, casual visitor. It was seen near Poti and in Adjara in September 2018, and in Kakheti in September 2024. It is slightly larger than the common ringed plover, slimmer and longer-legged, and the summer male has a chestnut breast. It is not dangerous to people. If you see a long-legged plover with a broad white eyebrow in September, take a good look.
Identification
Caspian plover: how to identify it
A slim, long-legged plover, slightly larger than the common ringed plover, with a long, thin bill. Its broad white supercilium is the best mark. It looks like the sand plovers, so check several features together.
The summer male has a grey-brown back and a white face and belly. The breast is chestnut, bordered below by a black band. The call is a short, sharp "chip".
In other plumages it has a grey-brown breast band, and the summer female may show a hint of chestnut on it. The white supercilium is clear in every plumage. So a winter bird or a juvenile is easier to recognise by the eyebrow than by the breast.
It differs from the sand plovers in its slimmer build, longer legs, broader white supercilium and long, thin bill. It lacks white tail sides, and its white wing bar is weak. Check these two marks in flight.
Colour
Swatches are illustrative. Do not identify a species by colour alone.
It breeds in western and Central Asia, around the Caspian Sea: from southern Russia, Turkey and Iran to Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Its places are steppes, desert edges, salt pans and saline soils with sparse shrubs, up to about 800 m. It winters in eastern and southern Africa, as far as the Zambezi: on dry grassland, coastal dunes, salt marshes and dry floodplains, sometimes on cultivated land. In Georgia it is a rare, casual visitor. In September 2018 one bird was seen near Poti, at Maltakva on the Black Sea shore, and the same month in Adjara. In September 2024 it was recorded in Kakheti. All known sightings fall in September, during the autumn migration.
The Caspian 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. No region has enough records yet.
Data: Reptiles.ge + iNaturalist · Methodology
- Field observation
- Several records in one spot
- Photo record
- Region with records
It feeds on beetles, termites, ants, grasshoppers, small snails and other small animals. Like other plovers, it picks its prey mainly from the ground. It sometimes eats grass seeds.
It is a migrant. It breeds on open grassland in Central Asia, mainly north and east of the Caspian Sea, and after breeding flies to Africa. It reaches western Europe and Australia only as a very rare vagrant. In Georgia it has so far been seen only in September. It nests in loose colonies. The nest is a scrape on bare ground or among short plants. The female lays three eggs.
Globally the Caspian plover is listed as Least Concern (LC, 2018). Its range is very large. Numbers may be falling slowly because its breeding grounds are being degraded, especially in Europe, but not fast enough to give it a threatened category. At the European scale it is considered Endangered (EN). The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies to it. In the 2021 assessment for the Red List of Georgia it was not evaluated (NE). The 2024 Georgian checklist lists it as a casual bird that turns up irregularly. Here it is so rare that every sighting is news.
Related guides
Continue with related pages
Yes, but very rarely. The 2024 Georgian checklist lists it as a casual bird that turns up irregularly. The known sightings are from September: near Poti and in Adjara in 2018, and in Kakheti in 2024.
It is a slim, long-legged plover, slightly larger than the common ringed plover, with a long, thin bill. The best mark is the broad white supercilium, visible in every plumage. The summer male has a chestnut breast with a black band below it.
It is slimmer, with longer legs, a broader white supercilium and a thin bill. In flight it shows no white tail sides, and its white wing bar is weak. Do not judge by one feature: check several together.
It breeds in the steppes and semi-deserts around the Caspian Sea, from southern Russia and Iran to Afghanistan. It winters in eastern and southern Africa, as far as the Zambezi. It passes through Georgia only rarely, on migration.
Mostly insects: beetles, termites, ants and grasshoppers. It also eats small snails, and sometimes grass seeds. It picks its prey from the ground.
It is harmless to people. Globally it is listed as Least Concern (LC, 2018), but at the European scale it is considered Endangered (EN). In Georgia it has not been evaluated (NE). If you meet one, watch it from a distance and do not flush it.
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.
