Identification and comparison of

Lesser and Greater Sand Plovers

Lesser Sand Plover Charadrius mongolus

Common summer visitor. Small (19-21 cm), grey-brown above and white below, with grey-brown breast patches. Large eyes. Short stout black bill and dark grey legs, sometimes tinged greenish. Dark mask through eyes. In breeding plumage has black mask on face and chestnut on sides of neck and breast. Soft trilling calls. Mudflats and sandy beaches.

Greater Sand Plover Charadrius leschenaultii

Common summer visitor. Medium-sized (22-25 cm), grey-brown above and white below, with grey-brown breast patches. Large eyes. Very similar to Lesser Sand Plover but larger and paler, with larger head, longer thicker bill and longer legs (often paler). Flat forehead. In breeding plumage has black mask on face and chestnut on sides of neck and upper breast. Soft trilling calls. Mudflats and sandy beaches.  

General: Greater is larger, more attenuated and less plump than Lesser, with flat forehead giving tapered look from head to tip of bill. Lesser has smaller rounded head with steeper forehead. Greater generally has horizontal posture whereas Lesser often stands upright.

Plumage (non-breeding): Greater has paler upperparts than Lesser, with pale fringes to feathers. This gives a more contrasting overall appearance than the smoothly dark brown upperparts of Lesser, with the folded wings of Greater often appearing paler than rest of upperparts. Greater also has cleaner white flanks than Lesser. Lesser often has darker smudges around and below eyes than Greater, contrasting more with rest of face.

Bill: Greater has longer, more tapering and pointed bill than Lesser, which is short and blunt. As a rule of thumb, if the length of the bill is the same as the distance between the base of the bill and the rear of the eye, it belongs to Lesser. If the length of the bill is greater than the distance between the base of the bill and the rear of the eye, it belongs to Greater.

Legs: Greater has longer and paler legs than Lesser, although the colour varies for both species. Greater has greyish-green to yellowish-pink legs and Lesser has blackish to olive-green legs.

Flight: Greater has conspicuous white wingbars that are more prominent on the outer wings and extensive white on tip and sides of tail. Lesser has less conspicuous white wingbars that are more prominent on the inner wings and less extensive white on tip and sides of tail. Longer legs of Greater extend beyond tail, whereas those of Lesser do not. These features are of limited use in the field. 

Call: Both species have soft repeated trilling calls. Lesser also has a shorter and firmer trill but this also is of limited use in the field.

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