Greater sand plover, Alibaug

The greater sand plover is a small wader in the plover family of birds. The spelling is commonly given as “greater sandplover” or “greater sand-plover”, but the official British Ornithologists’ Union spelling is “Greater Sand Plover”. It breeds in the semi-deserts of Turkey and eastwards through Central Asia. It nests in a bare ground scrape. This species is strongly migratory, wintering on sandy beaches in East Africa, South Asia and Australasia. It is a rare vagrant in western Europe, where it has been recorded as far west as Iceland. It has been spotted twice in North America. In all plumages, it is very similar to lesser sand plover. Separating the species may be straightforward in mixed wintering flocks on an Indian beach, where the difference in size and structure is obvious. This species is classified as Least Concern by IUCN.