Semipalmated Plover III

 Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)

The Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus), featured in the previous post, was observed yesterday Oct 18 at the same location by Javier Orrit, so I returned to the site this morning to take a few more photographs of the bird.

The close proximity of 3-4 Ringed Plover (C. hiaticula) for comparison facilitates appreciation of the differences between the two species. C. palmatus has paler, thinner legs, a shorter, more conical bill, an overall "daintier" build, and a thin orbital ring absent in hiaticula.

This morning I was less concerned with photographing the bird's feet, since my earlier photos show the webbed toes well, but above is another clear view of the webbing between the two inner toes.

When not foraging at the edges of the tidal pools, this Semipalmated Plover conceals itself amongst stones in the gravelly areas nearby, together with small groups of Ringed Plover.

A number of the previously-mentioned differences between semipalmatus and hiaticula can be seen in the picture below:

Charadrius semipalmatus and C. hiaticula