Common Ringed Plover

The Common Ringed Plover is a compact shorebird, 17–19.5 centimetres long with a 35–41-centimetre wingspan. Adults have grey-brown upperparts, white underparts, a single black breast band, brown cap, white forehead, black eye mask, and short orange-and-black bill. Orange legs and the absence of a conspicuous yellow eye-ring help separate it from Little Ringed Plover. Juveniles are duller, with a broken grey-brown breast band, dark bill, and muted yellow-grey legs. (Wikipedia, Common Ringed Plover account)

Breeding occurs on open beaches, flats, and sometimes sparsely vegetated inland uplands across northern Eurasia, Greenland, and Arctic northeastern Canada. Migrants winter mainly on coasts farther south. A territorial pair makes a shallow ground scrape lined with pebbles and vegetation and lays three or four eggs; both parents incubate for 21–27 days and tend the precocial chicks. Birds forage by sight on beaches, tidal flats, and fields, taking insects, crustaceans, and worms, sometimes trembling a foot to expose prey. (Wikipedia, Common Ringed Plover account)