PLOVERS I
e
1
Three-banded Plover
M Monditra Pluvier à Triple Collier
F
Charadrius tricollaris bifrontatus
DISTRIBUTION: Afrotropics. Uncommon throughout Length: 18 cm | 7" Madagascar on freshwater mudflats, wetland verges and WHERE TO SEE: Perhaps rice paddies. easiest in Ankarafantsika NP, but ID: The two black bands on the chest, one white band watch for it on rice paddies and around the head, and red-based bill are diagnostic. If you other wetlands throughout the see a plover in the interior, it is probably this species. country. VOICE: High-pitched, three-part “tsii-tsii-tsii”. BEHAVIOUR: A typical plover that feeds by alternating stretches of running and stopping, plucking invertebrates from the surface. Some scientists treat the Madagascar Three-banded Plover as a full species, C. bifrontatus, adding yet another avian endemic to the island's impressive tally. e
2
White-fronted Plover
F
Charadrius marginatus tenellus
M Fotsihandrina Pluvier à Front Blanc
DISTRIBUTION: Sub-Saharan Africa. Fairly common Length: 16–17 cm | 6–7" on sandy beaches and mudflats all along the coast of WHERE TO SEE: Watch for it on Madagascar. Less common inland, occurring mostly along any coastal beach or mudflat. rivers. ID: Small and pale. Can be separated from Greater Sand Plover (page 108) by its smaller size and pale collar. VOICE: Quiet “whiit”. BEHAVIOUR: Like other plovers, feeds by alternating periods of running and stopping, picking invertebrates from the surface. Often found on sandy beaches frequented by sunbathing tourists
2
2ju
106