Little ringed plover
Charadrius dubius Scopoli, 1786
The little ringed plover (Charadrius dubius), also called the little plover, is a bird in the family Charadriidae and the order Charadriiformes. It is a small, migratory bird with an adult body mass of 38.7 g and a wingspan of 45 cm, living in wetland habitat with a terrestrial lifestyle.
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Quick facts about the little ringed plover
It is a carnivore in the aquatic predator diet category, and it lays 4 eggs per clutch with 2 clutches per year and an incubation period of 24.5 days. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category, and checklists record it in Australia.
- Weight
- 38.3 g – 39.2 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 45 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 12.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 13 years
- Main food
- arthropodssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 24.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 20.9 months – 2 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
How big is the little ringed plover?
Photos of the little ringed plover
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the little ringed plover live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The little ringed plover is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the little ringed plover?
The little ringed plover (Thinornis dubius) is a small plover native to the Old World. It has mostly brown upperparts, a black neckband and a black mask around the eye with a noticeable yellow eyering. Its forehead, belly and the rest of the breast are white. A migratory species, it breeds in open gravel areas near freshwater, including gravel pits, islands and river edges. Its diet consists mainly of insects and worms, which it forages for in muddy areas.
From the Wikipedia article “Little ringed plover” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Little_ringed_plover&oldid=1352507808), 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 little ringed plover sound like?
Is the little ringed plover endangered?
The little ringed 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 little ringed plover classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyCharadriidae
- genusCharadrius
- SpeciesCharadrius dubius Scopoli, 1786
Synonyms Aegialitis dubia, Argialitis curonica, Chardrius dubius, Thinornis dubius
Other names and names in other languages (92)
- Little ploverEnglish
- KleinringnekstrandkiewietAfrikaans
- زقزاق مطوق صغيرArabic
- الزقزاق المطوق الصغيرArabic
- Mazaricu CaretuAsturian
- mazaricu les lleresAsturian
- Kiçik bozcaAzerbaijani
- Малы зуёкBelarusian
- Речен дъждосвирецBulgarian
- ছোট নথজিরিয়াBangla
- Nouelig bihanBreton
- An nouelig bihanBreton
- corriol anellat petitCatalan
- kulík říčníCzech
- cwtiad torchog bachWelsh
- Cornicyll modrwyog lleiafWelsh
- Cwtiaid Torchog BachWelsh
- lille præstekraveDanish
- FlussregenpfeiferGerman
- ΛιμνοπλουμίδιGreek
- ΠοταμοσφυριχτήςGreek
- eta pluvioEsperanto
- Malgranda pluvioEsperanto
- Chorlitejo chicoSpanish
- väiketüllEstonian
- Corriol petitBasque
- سلیم طوقی کوچکPersian
- pikkutylliFinnish
- Lítil svarthálsaFaroese
- petit gravelotFrench
- Pluvier petit-gravelotFrench
- LiirkNorthern Frisian
- Lytse Bûnte WilsterWestern Frisian
- feadóigín chladaighScottish Gaelic
- Trìlleachan traighe bheagScottish Gaelic
- Píllara areeiraGalician
- Feddag fainnagh vegManx
- חופמי גדותHebrew
- Chinna KottanHindi
- kulik sljepčićCroatian
- Kulik slijepčićCroatian
- kis lileHungarian
- Քարադր փոքրArmenian
- Cerek kalung-kecilIndonesian
- Burung Cerek Kalung-kecilIndonesian
- VatnalóaIcelandic
- Corriere piccoloItalian
- コチドリJapanese
- პატარა წინტალაGeorgian
- Самсалыхkjn
- Шаушүрілдек торғайKazakh
- 꼬마물떼새Korean
- 작은물떼새Korean
- Cornwhylen torghek byghanCornish
- Klenge WakeleeferLuxembourgish
- upinis kirlikasLithuanian
- upes tārtiņšLatvian
- мал пескарMacedonian
- ДождосвирецMacedonian
- ആറ്റുമണൽക്കോഴിMalayalam
- ആറ്റു മണല്ക്കോഴിMalayalam
- MonakellaMaltese
- Нарийн хиазат - ᠨᠠᠷᠢᠨ ᠬᠢᠵᠠᠲᠣMongolian
- Burung Rapang Biji NangkaMalay
- kleine plevierDutch
- dvergloNorwegian Nynorsk
- sieweczka rzecznaPolish
- borrelho-pequeno-de-coleiraPortuguese
- Gravarel pitschenRomansh
- Prundăraş gulerat micRomanian
- Малый зуёкRussian
- UhcabuvvedatNorthern Sami
- kulík riečnySlovak
- Kulík riečnýSlovak
- mali deževnikSlovenian
- vrapuesi i vogëlAlbanian
- Vraponjësi i vogëlAlbanian
- Žalar slepićSerbian
- Mali zujavac - Мали зујавацSerbian
- mindre strandpipareSwedish
- Kitwitwi Macho-njanoSwahili
- Pattani UppukkothiTamil
- นกหัวโตเล็กขาเหลืองThai
- halkalı küçük cılıbıtTurkish
- kolyeli küçük yağmurkuşuTurkish
- Малий зуйокUkrainian
- Пісочник малийUkrainian
- PivierinVenetian
- Chim Choi choi nhỏVietnamese
- 金眶鴴Chinese
- 小環頸鴴〔金眶鴴〕Chinese
- 金眶鸻Chinese
Relatives of the little ringed plover
Other species in the same genus Charadrius.
Common ringed plover
Charadrius hiaticula
Kentish plover
Charadrius alexandrinus
Eurasian dotterel
Charadrius morinellus
Greater sand plover
Charadrius leschenaultii
Siberian sand plover
Charadrius mongolus
Killdeer
Charadrius vociferus
CompareLittle ringed plover vs Common ringed ploverLittle ringed plover vs Kentish ploverLittle ringed plover vs Eurasian dotterelLittle ringed 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 little ringed plover?
The little ringed plover is a bird in the family Charadriidae, order Charadriiformes. It is classed as small and is migratory.
How much does a little ringed plover weigh?
An adult little ringed plover weighs 38.7 g, with values from 38.3 g to 39.2 g reported. Its wingspan is 45 cm.
What does the little ringed plover eat?
The little ringed plover is a carnivore in the aquatic predator diet category.
Is the little ringed plover endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the little ringed plover live?
The little ringed plover has a lifespan of 12.5 years, with values up to 13 years reported.
How many eggs does the little ringed plover lay?
It lays 4 eggs per clutch and has 2 clutches per year. The eggs are incubated for 24.5 days.
Which countries is the little ringed plover recorded in?
Checklists record the little ringed plover in Australia. It lives in wetland habitat.
Who named the little ringed plover?
The scientific name Charadrius dubius was given by Scopoli, 1786.
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). Little ringed plover (Charadrius dubius). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/little-ringed-plover
“Little ringed plover (Charadrius dubius).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/little-ringed-plover.
@misc{little_ringed_plover_2026,
title = {Little ringed plover (Charadrius dubius)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/little-ringed-plover},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}