Little Ringed Plover

The little ringed plover is a small Old World plover with grey-brown upperparts, white underparts and a single black band across the breast. Its face shows a black mask, white forehead and a conspicuous yellow eye-ring, while the short bill is dark and the legs are flesh-coloured. The eye-ring, head pattern and leg colour help separate it from the larger common ringed plover. Current treatments may place it as Thinornis dubius, with Charadrius dubius retained as a synonym. (Wikipedia, general species account)

A migratory bird, the little ringed plover breeds on open gravel close to freshwater. River margins, gravel islands and human-created gravel pits can all provide suitable bare nesting ground. It searches muddy areas chiefly for insects and worms. Three subspecies are recognised; the widespread northern form breeds from Scandinavia across Russia to eastern Asia and migrates to Africa or southern Asia for winter. More southerly forms occur from India through Southeast Asia and from the Philippines to New Guinea. (Wikipedia, general species account)