Charadriiformes / Charadriidae / Anarhynchus
Oriental Plover
Anarhynchus veredus · 东方鸻
Introduction
A medium-sized plover closely related to the Caspian plover. It breeds in Mongolia, eastern Russia, and Manchuria, migrating south to Indonesia, New Guinea, and northern Australia. It inhabits dry steppes, deserts, arid grasslands, and saltpans during breeding, and grasslands, salt-fields, and coastal areas during non-breeding seasons. The IUCN rates its conservation status as Least Concern.
Description
Length 21–25 cm; wingspan 46–53 cm; weight 95 g. Adult male in breeding plumage has a white face, throat, and fore-crown; grey-brown hind-crown, hind-neck, and back; white belly demarcated by a narrow black band and a broad chestnut breast band merging into the white throat. Female, juvenile, and non-breeding male have generally grey-brown upperparts, white belly, pale face, and a white streak above the eye. Relatively large, long-legged, and long-winged among red-breasted plovers.
Identification
Among red-breasted plovers, it is relatively large with long legs and long wings. Breeding males show a distinct broad chestnut breast band separated from the white throat by a narrow black band. Non-breeding individuals and females display a pale face with a white supercilium.
Distribution & Habitat
Breeds in Mongolia, eastern Russia, and Manchuria. Migrates through eastern China and South-East Asia to Indonesia and northern Australia. Rare in New Guinea; recorded as a straggler to New Zealand and Europe (Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands). Breeding habitat includes dry steppes, deserts, arid grasslands, and saltpans. Non-breeding habitat includes grasslands, salt-fields, and coastal areas.
Behavior & Ecology
Feeds mainly on insects. Nests on the ground; breeding biology is not extensively studied.
Conservation
IUCN status is Least Concern. Estimated population is 160,000 individuals. About 90% of the population overwinters in Australia. No evidence of significant population decline.
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Taxonomy
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Charadriidae
- Genus
- Anarhynchus
Taxonomy Changes
Charadrius veredus → Anarhynchus veredus
Genus transfer — GBIF Backbone Taxonomy uses the former name; AviList 2025 uses the current name.
Distribution
breeds inland eastern Asia from south-central Siberia and Mongolia to western Inner Mongolia (north-central China); winters inland and coastal Indonesia from Java to southern New Guinea and northern Australia
Data Sources
CBR Notes: 由Charadrius属移入Anarhynchus属（dos Remedios et al. 2015; Eaton et al. 2021）
Species description from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Bird images and sounds sourced from GBIF, contributed by citizen scientists worldwide under Creative Commons licenses.
Taxonomy data from AviList 2025.
