# Little ringed plover (*Charadrius dubius*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/little-ringed-plover  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

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. 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.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 38.3 g – 39.2 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 45 cm |
| Lifespan | 12.5 years |
| Diet | Aquatic predator |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 13 years |
| Main food | arthropods |
| Habitat | wetland |
| Egg incubation | 24.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 4 |
| Age at maturity | 20.9 months – 2 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 2 |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | 1 country |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Charadriiformes
- family: Charadriidae
- genus: Charadrius
- species: *Charadrius dubius* Scopoli, 1786

Synonyms: *Aegialitis dubia*, *Argialitis curonica*, *Chardrius dubius*, *Thinornis dubius*

## Countries on record

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.

Australia

## Common questions

### 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

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Little ringed plover (Charadrius dubius). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/little-ringed-plover