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Hooded plover

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Hooded plover
At Prosser River Spit, Orford, Tasmania, Australia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Charadriidae
Genus: Charadrius
Species:
C. cucullatus
Binomial name
Charadrius cucullatus
Vieillot, 1818
Range
Synonyms[2]

Charadrius rubricollis Gmelin, 1789
Thinornis rubricollis

The hooded plover or hooded dotterel (Charadrius cucullatus) is a species of bird in the family Charadriidae. It is endemic to southern Australia, where it inhabits ocean beaches and subcoastal lagoons.

Taxonomy

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The hooded plover was formally described in 1818 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot under the current binomial name Charadrius cucullatus.[3] The binomial name Charadrius cucullatus was at one time treated as a junior synonym of Charadrius rubricollis Gmelin, 1789,[4][5] but in 1998 the American ornithologist Storrs L. Olson designated a lectotype for C. rubricollis and made it a junior synonym of Tringa lobata Linnaeus, 1758, now the red-necked phalarope Phalaropus lobatus.[6][7] In the early 2000s the hooded plover was moved from the original genus Charadrius to the genus Thinornis, along with the shore plover.[7] A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2015 found Thinornis was embedded within the genus Charadrius.[8] This was confirmed by another study published in 2022,[9] and as a result the hooded plover was moved back to Charadrius. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.[10]

Description

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A breeding pair

The hooded plover is medium in size for a plover, stocky, and pale in colour. Its length is 190 to 230 mm (7.5–9.1 in) and its wing-span 230 to 440 mm (9.1–17.3 in). It has a black hood and throat with a white collar. Its red bill has a black tip. It has a red eye ring and orange legs.[11] Underparts are white. Males and females are similar. Adults and juveniles are similar except the juveniles do not have the black head and hindneck, which are instead a sandy brown.[12]

Distribution and habitat

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Its natural habitats are freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, coastal saline lagoons, and sandy beaches. Heavy populations are found on beaches with seaweed and dunes. It is threatened by habitat loss because of its small population and limited native range. It is a non-migratory inhabitant of coastal and subcoastal Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, and is a vagrant in Queensland.

Behaviour

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Eggs

Breeding

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A clutch of 1–3 eggs is laid from August to March, which includes also the peak of the Austral summer tourist season in its range and it is thereby heavily impacted by human activities.[13][14] The eggs are a matte beige or cream colour heavily sprinkled with dark brown and lavender markings, especially at the larger end of the egg. Pyriform in shape, they measure 37 mm × 27 mm (1.46 in × 1.06 in).[15] Eggs hatch in about 30 days.[15]

Food and feeding

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The eastern population eats a variety of invertebrates but little is known of the diet of the western population.[13][14] Specifically it eats insects, bivalves, and sandhoppers. It is usually seen in pairs or small groups near the water. For breeding it will dig a shallow scrape in sand or gravel above high-water mark and line it with pebbles, seaweed, and other debris.[12] Males and females spend equal amounts of time incubating the eggs, although males tend to incubate more at night.[16]

Threats

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The population of hooded plovers has declined in eastern Australia as a result of disturbance by people, dogs, cats and horses, as well as predation by silver gulls (Larus novaehollandiae), ravens (Corvus spp) and introduced foxes.[13][14] Fox predation is a major threat to the western subspecies. In 2000 the number of mature individuals was estimated at 7,000.[13]

Conservation

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Conservation Status by Region
AUS NSW VIC TAS SA WA
Charadrius cucullatus Vulnerable[17] Critically endangered[18] Vulnerable[19] Conservation Concern[20] Vulnerable

Important Bird Areas

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BirdLife International has identified the following sites as being important for hooded plover conservation:[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Thinornis cucullatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22693883A93429190. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22693883A93429190.en. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  2. ^ "Thinornis cucullatus". Avibase.
  3. ^ Vieillot, Louis Pierre (1818). Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle, appliquée aux arts, à l'agriculture, à l'économie rurale et domestique, à la médecine, etc (in French). Vol. 27 (Nouvelle édition ed.). Paris: Deterville. p. 136. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.20211.
  4. ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1934). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 247.
  5. ^ Piersma, T.; Wiersma, P. (1996). "Family Charadriidae (Plovers)". In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 3: Hoatzin to Auks. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. pp. 384–443 [439–440]. ISBN 978-84-87334-20-7.
  6. ^ Olson, Storrs L. (1998). "Lectotypification of Charadrius rubricollis Gmelin, 1789". British Ornithologists' Club. 118 (4): 256–259.
  7. ^ a b Dickinson, E.C.; Remsen, J.V. Jr., eds. (2013). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Vol. 1: Non-passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-9568611-0-8.
  8. ^ Dos Remedios, N.; Lee, P.L.M.; Burke, T.; Székely, T.; Küpper, C. (2015). "North or south? Phylogenetic and biogeographic origins of a globally distributed avian clade" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 89: 151–159. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2015.04.010. PMID 25916188.
  9. ^ Černý, David; Natale, Rossy (2022). "Comprehensive taxon sampling and vetted fossils help clarify the time tree of shorebirds (Aves, Charadriiformes)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 177: 107620. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107620. PMID 36038056.
  10. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (December 2023). "Buttonquail, thick-knees, sheathbills, plovers, oystercatchers, stilts, painted-snipes, jacanas, Plains-wanderer, seedsnipes". IOC World Bird List Version 14.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Hooded Dotterel". Biodiversity Information Explorer. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  12. ^ a b "Hooded Plover". Birds in Backyards. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  13. ^ a b c d "Hooded Plover Thinornis rubricollis". BirdLife International. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  14. ^ a b c "Thinornis rubricollis". IUCN Red List. IUCN. Retrieved 4 June 2011.[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ a b Beruldsen, Gordon (2003). Australian Birds: Their Nests and Eggs. Kenmore Hills, Qld: self. p. 221. ISBN 0-646-42798-9.
  16. ^ Ryeland, Julia; Magrath, Michael J. L.; Weston, Michael A. (2021-12-28). "Day–night cycle influences the division of incubation in the Hooded Dotterel (Thinornis cucullatus)". Ibis. 164 (3): 785–792. doi:10.1111/ibi.13040. ISSN 0019-1019. S2CID 245348998.
  17. ^ Environment, jurisdiction=Commonwealth of Australia; corporateName=Department of the. "Thinornis cucullatus cucullatus — Hooded Plover (eastern), Eastern Hooded Plover". www.environment.gov.au. Retrieved 2020-06-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ "Hooded Plover - profile | NSW Environment, Energy and Science". www.environment.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  19. ^ "Hooded Plover". www.swifft.net.au. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  20. ^ Bryant, Sally (2002). "Conservation assessment of beach nesting and migratory shorebirds in Tasmania" (PDF). Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  21. ^ "Hooded Plover". Important Bird Areas. BirdLife International. 2012. Retrieved 2012-10-27.
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