Three-banded Plover Charadrius tricollaris Scientific name definitions

Taxonomic note: Lump. This account is a combination of multiple species accounts originally published in HBW Alive. That content has been combined and labeled here at the subspecies level. Moving forward we will create a more unified account for this parent taxon. Please consider contributing your expertise to update this account.

Three-banded Plover (African)

c. 18 cm; 25–49 g (1 Tree, A.J. (2003). Movements of the Treble-banded Plover within and through Zimbabwe, with observations from elsewhere in southern Africa. Honeyguide. 49(1): 50–61. Close ). Small, dark plover with red eye-ring , distinguished from Forbes's Plover (Charadrius forbesi) by white forehead, paler upperparts and red bill with black tip  . Sexes alike. No seasonal variation. Juvenile has narrow buff fringes on upperpart feathers, incomplete brown upper breastband, lower one also incomplete but has some black feathers, pale brown forehead and less noticeable red orbital ring.

Three-banded Plover (Madagascar)

c. 18 cm; 33·5–35 g (male), 37–43·5 g (female). Sexes alike. Has broad grayish-brown band over bill, with white band above this that continues as broad white diadem  encircling blackish-brown crown and nape; mantle to uppertail coverts dark brown and tail blackish brown, with white sides to rump and outertail, other rectrices tipped white; flight-feathers blackish brown, tipped white, broadest on secondaries, and tertials and wing-coverts dark brown, with white tips on greater coverts forming wingbar; gray-buff chin and throat, bordered below by narrow black band, then white band across upper breast, followed by a broader black band on lower breast, with rest of underparts white; bill bright pinkish red becoming blackish distally, irides pale brown, and legs and feet pinkish brown. Juvenile differs in having cap, upperparts and wing-coverts dark brown with buff fringes, buffish spots on tertial edges, forehead band poorly defined and buffish, pale diadem also narrower and buffish tinged, breastbands browner and narrower, and chin and throat whiter.

Three-banded Plover (African)

Separated from Forbes's Plover (Charadrius forbesi) by white forehead and connected supercilium, gray throat, narrower and darker breastbands, and pink legs.

Three-banded Plover (Madagascar)

Easily separated from all other plovers in Madagascar, even in flight, where wingbar is much narrower and upperparts generally darker than other sympatric Charadrius.

Three-banded Plover (African)

Hitherto considered conspecific with C. bifrontatus. Otherwise probably closest to Forbes's Plover (Charadrius forbesi), with which sometimes treated as conspecific; these three taxa sometimes separated in genus Afroxyechus. Proposed subspecies pelodromus (southern Mozambique) is included within tricollaris. Monotypic.

Three-banded Plover (Madagascar)

Hitherto considered conspecific with C. tricollaris, but differs in its gray (not white) forehead (2); white anterior forecrown vs forecrown almost entirely brown (2); darker brown rest of crown (ns[1]); darker gray face, throat and uppermost breast, leaving only a small grayish-white area on chin and upper throat vs pale gray face and largely whitish chin, throat and upper breast (2); broader, grayer-topped lower breastband (ns[2]); slightly longer tarsus (effect size 1.83; score 1). Along with C. tricollaris and Forbes's Plover (Charadrius forbesi), sometimes separated in genus Afroxyechus. Monotypic.

Three-banded Plover (African)

Egypt (recently colonized) (2 Haas, M., Legrand, V. and Monticelli, D. (2010). Three-banded Plovers breeding at Aswan, Egypt, in 2009. Dutch Birding 32(2): 126–128. Close , 3 Hering, J., Fuchs, E., Heim, W., Eilts, H.J. and Ibrahim, H. (2013). New information on Three-banded Plover in Egypt. Dutch Birding 35(1): 23–27. Close ), and Eritrea to Tanzania, S DR Congo and Gabon, and south to South Africa; non-breeding also around Lake Chad.

Three-banded Plover (Madagascar)

Madagascar.

Three-banded Plover (African)

Firm gravelly or sometimes muddy ground along edges of inland freshwater lakes , pools, streams and rivers ; occasionally at coastal lagoons and estuaries, when mostly uses the least saline areas; rarely on beaches and inland brackish water; also regularly found at margins of some artificial waterbodies, e.g., sewage tanks in Malawi. Roosts higher up shore, on gravelly or stony ground, in mixed flocks or solitarily. Recorded to 2800 m in north of range (in Ethiopia) (4 Ash, J. S., and J. Atkins (2009). Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea: An Atlas of Distribution. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) and generally to 1780 m in south of range (in Zambia) (5 Dowsett, R. J., D. R. Aspinwall, and F. Dowsett-Lemaire (2008). The Birds of Zambia. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close ).

Three-banded Plover (Madagascar)

Favors freshwater wetlands, especially edges of streams and rivers, but also muddy ponds in open country, wet rice fields and artificial waterbodies, as well as being more occasionally recorded at edges of coastal saltmarshes, at estuaries or brackish inland lakes. Mainly found inland, rather than on coasts, and recorded to c. 1400 m (claims of occurrence above this based on incorrect altitude/locality).

Three-banded Plover (African)

Essentially resident, showing some erratic movements, but movements poorly known; more widespread during non-breeding season, making use of temporary pools. Records of apparently non-breeding birds from Nigeria and Cameroon in dry season (August–February) suggest that longer movements occur; in Ethiopia, only present March–April and July–Dec; in eastern DR Congo and Rwanda, numbers increase in March; in southern Africa, movements complex, seeming to depend on rains, e.g., a dry-season visitor to Zambia, in Zimbabwe the species is considered to be mainly nomadic or a short- to medium-distance migrant (1 Tree, A.J. (2003). Movements of the Treble-banded Plover within and through Zimbabwe, with observations from elsewhere in southern Africa. Honeyguide. 49(1): 50–61. Close ), peak numbers occur in Namibia in May–September, while large numbers winter (early April to early October) in Orange Free State and eastern Cape Province, South Africa, and while the longest in-country movement revealed by ringing is 260 km (6 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK, and New York, NY, USA. Close ), but it has been suggested that at least some birds wintering in the latter country could have come from as far afield as Zimbabwe (1 Tree, A.J. (2003). Movements of the Treble-banded Plover within and through Zimbabwe, with observations from elsewhere in southern Africa. Honeyguide. 49(1): 50–61. Close ). Vagrant to Ivory Coast (7 Cable, T.T. (1994). First record of Three-banded Plover Charadrius tricollaris in Ivory Coast. Malimbus. 16: 57–58. Close ), Ghana (8 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and R. J. Dowsett (2014). The Birds of Ghana: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press, Liège, Belgium. Close ), Niger (9 Demey, R. (2012). Recent reports. Bulletin of the African Bird Club 19(2):221–236. Close ) and southern Mali (6 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK, and New York, NY, USA. Close , 10 Girard, O., Niagaté, B., Thal, J. and Boutin, J.M. (2009). Les limicoles au Mali, en particulier dans le Delta interieur du Niger. Malimbus. 31(1): 1–19. Close ), and occasionally wanders to higher elevations (e.g., reaching 2350 m in Malawi) (11 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and R. J. Dowsett (2006). The Birds of Malawi: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close ).

Three-banded Plover (Madagascar)

Generally resident, but occasional records from central plateau (e.g., Lake Itasy, Antananarivo) suggest some levels of dispersal, while the species’ calls have been heard at night (especially moonlit ones) away from normally occupied habitats, especially during the wet season. Records on Mayotte (Comoros) since 1990s, without evidence, are perhaps more likely to relate to C. bifrontatus, rather than C. tricollaris, but apparently have not been identified specifically as to taxon (prior to the split).

Three-banded Plover (African)

Terrestrial and aquatic insects and their larvae, crustaceans, small molluscs and worms. Often feeds at water’s edge, picking up food from surface, or just below, pecking at rate of 10–40 times per minute (6 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK, and New York, NY, USA. Close ); also uses foot-trembling. Probably feeds by night, as well as by day. Often solitary, but also mixes with other small waders; occasionally in loose flocks, rarely up to 40 birds.

Three-banded Plover (Madagascar)

Vocal Development

No information.

Vocal Array

Peet. Most-frequently heard call is a short metallic high-pitched note peet!, either uttered singly, in pairs or -when excited- in longer fast series. Note duration ⁓ 0.12‒0.15 s. On sonogram, shape of peet note is diagnostic, with a distinct bend around 5kHz. When uttered in pairs, second note may be distinctly shorter peet!-pit.

Trilled call. A series of different short high-pitched notes uttered at fast pace, typically including the Peet call, much shorter overslurred pit calls and trilled prrrreet rattles. Overal sounds as an excited stuttered or trilled series. Most energy of all notes between 4 and 5 kHz.

Gravelly call. A low-pitched gravelly short note rrut, typically given in series and depending on level of excitement such series may shift to a continuous gruff chattering with longer and variable notes. A second bird (female?) then often utters vocalizations which are typically not heard in other situations, such as low-pitched mellow whistles or short upslurred weet notes.

Geographic Variation

Voice of morphologically distinct subspecies bifrontatus has been described as follows: Most-frequently heard call a fluty, shrill, plaintive bisyllabic teewit or pee-pit, or more simply peet!. In alarm, a longer tuuieeet or eek-eek-eek. During breeding season a distinctive quik..quik..quik… (12 Safford, R., and F. Hawkins, Editors (2013). The Birds of Africa. Volume 8. The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). It is unclear whether there is a genuine difference in voice with mainland tricollaris. Commonest Peet call is very similar (but possibly on average shorter in duration), other vocalizations may however be entirely different. Requires further study. Voice of closely related Forbes's Plover (Charadrius forbesi) also very different. Voice of nominate tricollaris apparently very constant over its range in mainland Africa.

Phenology

Peet call can be heard all year. Trilled and Gravelly call are heard far less, and may be largely confined to the breeding period.

Daily Pattern of Vocalizing

In general rather silent. Vocal activity mainly linked to situations occurring during the course of the day. Also vocal at night, presumably mainly in flight.

Places of Vocalizing

Calls from the ground, typically on muddy or gravelly surface along the shoreline. Peet call is also given in flight.

Sex Differences

Little information. Gravelly call has been assigned to male (13 Urban, E. K. J., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, United Kingdom. Close ).

Social Content and Presumed Functions of Vocalizations

Commonest Peet call is given in a variety of situations, from normal contact or moderate distress to alarm, in the latter case typically in a fast series. Also commonly given in flight. Trilled call is typically uttered when chasing another bird or against intruders, and seems to be linked to territorial defense. Gravelly call is given during the breeding period, during display, before copulating and also when performing distraction display (13 Urban, E. K. J., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, United Kingdom. Close ).

None documented.

Three-banded Plover (African)

Breeds opportunistically, but mainly lays April–September in tropics, July–Dec further south, e.g., May, August and December in Ethiopia (4 Ash, J. S., and J. Atkins (2009). Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea: An Atlas of Distribution. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), March–June in Uganda (14 Carswell, M., D. Pomeroy, J. Reynolds, and H. Tushabe (2005). The Bird Atlas of Uganda. British Ornithologists’ Club and British Ornithologists' Union, Oxford, UK. Close ), April–September (breeding condition) in Angola (15 Dean, W. R. J. (2000). The Birds of Angola: An Annotated Check-list. British Ornithologists’ Union Check-list 18. British Ornithologists’ Union, Tring, UK. Close ), July–October in Malawi (11 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and R. J. Dowsett (2006). The Birds of Malawi: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close ), February–November (mainly July–October) in Zambia (5 Dowsett, R. J., D. R. Aspinwall, and F. Dowsett-Lemaire (2008). The Birds of Zambia. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close ), and May–November (mainly July–September) in Zimbabwe (1 Tree, A.J. (2003). Movements of the Treble-banded Plover within and through Zimbabwe, with observations from elsewhere in southern Africa. Honeyguide. 49(1): 50–61. Close ). Monogamous; solitary and territorial; territory usually along shoreline, covering 80–100 m (6 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK, and New York, NY, USA. Close ); sometimes two territories, one for nesting and the other for feeding. Nest situated in sand or dry mud, close to water; sometimes on hard rock; simple scrape, lined with pieces of plants, pebbles and debris. Usually two eggs  , sometimes one (e.g., of 64 clutches in Zambia, just three comprised a single egg) (5 Dowsett, R. J., D. R. Aspinwall, and F. Dowsett-Lemaire (2008). The Birds of Zambia. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close ), probably laid at interval of 2–4 days, cream-white covered in black lines, size 27–33 mm × 21–24 mm (6 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK, and New York, NY, USA. Close ); frequently double-brooded, female starting second brood well before first brood fully-fledged; incubation 26–28 days, by both parents, probably starting when clutch complete; chick has sandy upperparts speckled black with black median stripe  , white underparts  ; fledging 30–32 days, though can sometimes fly at 21–22 days (6 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK, and New York, NY, USA. Close ); young sometimes remain with parents until 40–42 days old. Fledging success almost two young per pair in Botswana and one pair produced three clutches within six months, the second of which was a replacement, and is frequently double-, occasionally triple-brooded in Zimbabwe (6 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK, and New York, NY, USA. Close ). Probably lives > 10 years.

Three-banded Plover (Madagascar)

Not well studied. Seasonality known from comparatively few data but probably most of year, except during rains, thus records of breeding in April–May in northwest, April–August in southwest, July–August in southeast and September in northeast. Nest-site is small scrape (10–12 cm in diameter and 2–3 cm deep) formed in natural hollow in dry mud or sand, lined or ringed with small stones, dry leaves or flakes of dried mud, usually within c. 20 m of water. Clutch 1–2 eggs, buffy white but heavily marked with brownish-black, gray, brown and yellowish-brown spots and lines, size 29·2–30·9 mm × 21·9–23·3 mm, mass 8 g, incubation period unknown, probably by both parents, and chicks are certainly cared for by two adults, but no information on fledging period; downy chick has whitish forehead, crown and mantle speckled blackish, brown and white, with several large black dorsal spots, gray breastband, grayish-white throat and white belly.

Three-banded Plover (African)

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Population in eastern and southern Africa estimated at 70,000–130,000 individuals (16 Delaney, S. and D. Scott, Editors (2002). Waterbird Population Estimates. Third edition. Wetlands International Global Series No. 12. Wageningen, the Netherlands. Close ). Total of c. 750 birds recorded on coasts of South Africa, with highest numbers in Cape Province. Only recently discovered in Congo (17 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., R. J. Dowsett, and P. Bulens (1993). Additions and corrections to the avifauna of Congo. Malimbus 15:68–80. Close ) and largely restricted to the southwest of the country in Uganda (14 Carswell, M., D. Pomeroy, J. Reynolds, and H. Tushabe (2005). The Bird Atlas of Uganda. British Ornithologists’ Club and British Ornithologists' Union, Oxford, UK. Close ). In western Palearctic, recorded only in Egypt, first in Mar 1993 at freshwater lake near Gebal Asfar, in Cairo (18 Hoath, R. (2000). The first Three-banded Plover Charadrius tricollaris in Egypt and the Western Palearctic. Sandgrouse. 22(1): 67–68. Close ), with subsequent records at Aswan (December 1997), Wadi el Natrun (September 2000) and El Gouna (March 2003); since January 2006 continuous sightings from Aswan, and in late April 2009 breeding recorded at nearby Tut Amon fish ponds; nested again in this area in each year since then, and in 2012 possibly bred also at Abu Simbel, in far south (19 Hering, J., Fuchs, E., Heim, W., Eilts, H.-J. and Ibrahim, H. (2013). New information on Three-banded Plover in Egypt. Dutch Birding. 35: 23-27. Close ). In many parts of its range has benefited from the provision of artificial wetlands.

Three-banded Plover (Madagascar)

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Population estimated at 10,000–30,000 individuals, trend not definitely known, but suspected to be declining given increasing loss of wetland habitats and disturbance (impacting breeding success). Densities apparently usually low, with no large concentrations known. Widespread in east, west, and northern Madagascar and, to a lesser extent (due to more limited habitat availability) in west and southwest of the island, but largely absent from its central plateau, where only occasionally recorded.

Peter Boesman started birding at a young age in his home country of Belgium. He soon birded all over Europe, and shared his bird knowledge by writing articles, co-authoring a book about the birds of Flanders and joining the Belgian Rarities Committee—all while completing his MSc in both Engineering sciences and Music. In the early 90s, he moved to the Neotropics where he developed a special interest in bird sounds. He pioneered sharing bird song recordings by making multimedia productions and his MP3 collections were the reference for many Neotropical countries in the pre-internet days. Back in Belgium, he continues to focus on recording and studying bird sounds, and he has been especially prolific in analyzing bird vocalizations to support taxonomy and identification. Peter has written more than 1,000 voice accounts for Birds of the World, 400+ notes on the vocal distinctiveness of taxa, and several bird sound-related scientific papers. Peter’s entire bird sound collection – about 30,000+ recordings from about half the world’s bird species – are now all available at the Macaulay Library. He continues to provide expert voice accounts for Birds of the World.