Kentish plover
Charadrius alexandrinus Linnaeus, 1758
The kentish plover (Charadrius alexandrinus), also called the snowy plover, is a bird of the family Charadriidae in the order Charadriiformes. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 42.3 g (up to 47 g) and a wingspan of 42.5 cm, with reported values from 41.1 to 43.9 cm.
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Quick facts about the kentish plover
A carnivore classed as an aquatic predator, it lives in coastal habitats, forages on the ground and is partially migratory, with a geographic range of 13,540,000 km². It lays 3 eggs per clutch with 1.5 clutches per year, incubates them for 25 days, reaches sexual maturity at 1 year and has a lifespan of 15 years, up to 19 years.
- Weight
- 42.3 g – 47 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 41.1 cm – 43.9 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 15 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 19 years
- Main food
- arthropodssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- coastalsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 25 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 10.9 months – 14 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the kentish plover?
Photos of the kentish plover
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the kentish plover live?
Not recorded
What is the kentish plover?
The Kentish plover (Anarhynchus alexandrinus) is a small wader (40–44 g (1.4–1.6 oz)) of the family Charadriidae that breeds on the shores of saline lakes, lagoons, and coasts, populating sand dunes, marshes, semi-arid desert, and tundra. Both male and female birds have pale plumages with a white underside, grey/brown back, dark legs and a dark bill; however, additionally the male birds also exhibit very dark incomplete breast bands, and dark markings either side of their head, therefore the Kentish plover is regarded as sexually dimorphic.
The Kentish plover has a large geographical distribution, ranging from latitudes of 10º to 55º, occupying North Africa, both mainland, such as Senegal, and island, such as the Cape Verde archipelago, Central Asia, for example alkaline lakes in China, and Europe, including small populations in Spain and Austria. Some populations are migratory and often winter in Africa, whereas other populations, such as various island populations, do not migrate. Its common English name comes from the county of Kent, where it was once found, but it has not bred in Britain since 1979.
Kentish plovers are ground-nesting birds, often with a preference for low, open, moist nesting sites away from thick vegetation and human activity. They use a number of materials to build their nests, mainly consisting of shells, pebbles, grass and leaves in a small scrape in the ground. Like most plovers, the Kentish plovers are predominantly insectivores, feeding on a large range of arthropods and invertebrates depending on the environment, by using a run and stop method.
From the Wikipedia article “Kentish plover” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kentish_plover&oldid=1378504211), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the kentish plover sound like?
Is the kentish plover endangered?
The kentish plover is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the kentish plover classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyCharadriidae
- genusCharadrius
- SpeciesCharadrius alexandrinus Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Anarhynchus alexandrinus
Other names and names in other languages (50)
- Snowy ploverEnglish
- BleekstrandkiewietAfrikaans
- الزقزاق الاسكندرانيArabic
- mazaricu'l sableAsturian
- Морски дъждосвирецBulgarian
- Nouelig pikousBreton
- corriol camanegreCatalan
- kulík mořskýCzech
- cwtiad caintWelsh
- Cwtiaid CaintWelsh
- hvidbrystet præstekraveDanish
- SeeregenpfeiferGerman
- ΘαλασσοσφυριχτήςGreek
- Chorlitejo patinegroSpanish
- mustjalg-tüll e. meritüllEstonian
- mustajalkatylliFinnish
- Pluvier à collier interrompuFrench
- gravelot à collier interrompuFrench
- feadóigín chosdubhScottish Gaelic
- Feddag chass ghooManx
- חופמי אלכסנדריHebrew
- חופמי אלכסנדרוניHebrew
- morski kulikCroatian
- széki lileHungarian
- Cerek tililIndonesian
- StrandlóaIcelandic
- fratinoItalian
- シロチドリJapanese
- juodakojis kirlikasLithuanian
- jūras tārtiņšLatvian
- strandplevierDutch
- kvitbrystloNorwegian Nynorsk
- hvitbrystloNorwegian
- sieweczka morskaPolish
- borrelho-de-coleira-interrompidaPortuguese
- Prundaşul de sărăturăRomanian
- Морской зуёкRussian
- морской зуекRussian
- ČáhppesjuolbuvvedatNorthern Sami
- kulík morskýSlovak
- beločeli deževnikSlovenian
- vrapuesi gushëbardhëAlbanian
- svartbent strandpipareSwedish
- นกหัวโตขาดำThai
- akca cilibitTurkish
- akça cılıbıtTurkish
- Морський пісочникUkrainian
- Пісочник морськийUkrainian
- Пісочник морський (Зуйок морський)Ukrainian
- 环颈鸻Chinese
Relatives of the kentish plover
Other species in the same genus Charadrius.
Little ringed plover
Charadrius dubius
Common ringed plover
Charadrius hiaticula
Eurasian dotterel
Charadrius morinellus
Greater sand plover
Charadrius leschenaultii
Siberian sand plover
Charadrius mongolus
Killdeer
Charadrius vociferus
CompareKentish plover vs Little ringed ploverKentish plover vs Common ringed ploverKentish plover vs Eurasian dotterelKentish plover vs Greater sand plover
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the kentish plover?
The kentish plover is a bird in the family Charadriidae and the order Charadriiformes. It is also called the snowy plover.
How big is the kentish plover?
It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 42.3 g, up to 47 g. Its wingspan is 42.5 cm, with reported values from 41.1 to 43.9 cm.
What does the kentish plover eat?
The kentish plover is a carnivore classed as an aquatic predator.
What habitat does the kentish plover live in?
It lives in coastal habitats and forages on the ground. It is partially migratory.
Is the kentish plover endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the global IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the kentish plover live?
Its lifespan is 15 years, with values up to 19 years reported by sources.
How many eggs does the kentish plover lay?
It lays 3 eggs per clutch, with 1.5 clutches per year, and the incubation period is 25 days.
Who named the kentish plover?
Its scientific name, Charadrius alexandrinus, was given by Linnaeus, 1758.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Kentish plover (Charadrius alexandrinus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/kentish-plover
“Kentish plover (Charadrius alexandrinus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/kentish-plover.
@misc{kentish_plover_2026,
title = {Kentish plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/kentish-plover},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}