Editing Caspian plover

{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Wermutregenpfeifer (Charadrius asiaticus) 206737679.jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=''Charadrius asiaticus'' |volume=2018 |page=e.T22693868A131930637 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22693868A131930637.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
| taxon = Anarhynchus asiaticus
| authority = ([[Peter Simon Pallas|Pallas]], 1773)
| synonyms = ''Charadrius asiaticus'' ([[protonym]])
}}

The '''Caspian plover''' ('''''Anarhynchus asiaticus''''') is a [[wader]] in the [[plover]] family of [[bird]]s. The specific ''asiaticus'' is [[Latin]] and means "Asian", although in binomials it usually means the [[Type (biology)#type locality|type locality]] was [[India]].<ref name=job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=57, 99}}</ref>

This plover breeds in western and central Asia and migrates southward to eastern and southern Africa to escape the northern winter.

==Description==
[[File:Caspian plover (Charadrius asiaticus) image.jpg|thumb|left|Caspian plover in winter plumage]]
This plover is slightly larger than [[ringed plover]], and it recalls [[greater sandplover]] and [[lesser sandplover]] in appearance. It is slimmer and longer-legged than the sandplovers, and has a much stronger white supercilium, and a long thin [[beak|bill]]. It also lacks white tail sides and a weak wing bar.

Summer males have grey-brown backs and a white face and belly. The breast is chestnut, bordered black below. Other [[plumage]]s have a grey-brown breast band, although the summer female may show a hint of chestnut. The call is a sharp ''chip''.

==Distribution and habitat==
The Caspian plover breeds in western Asia in the area of the Caspian Sea. Its range includes southern Russia, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Its habitat is steppes, desert verges, saltpans and saline soils amongst sparse shrubby vegetation up to an altitude of about {{convert|800|m|0|abbr=on}}. After breeding, it [[Bird migration|migrates]] to eastern and southern Africa, going as far as the [[Zambezi River]]. Its winter quarters are usually dry grassland, coastal dunes, saltmarshes, dry floodplains and sometimes cultivated land.<ref name=BLI>{{cite web |url=http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=3140 |title=Species factsheet: ''Charadrius asiaticus'' |publisher=BirdLife International |access-date=2013-12-17}}</ref> This plover is a very rare vagrant to western [[Europe]]. It is also a rare vagrant to [[Australia]].

==Biology==
[[File:Charadrius asiaticus MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.147.12.jpg|thumb| ''Charadrius asiaticus'' - [[MHNT]]]]
It breeds on open [[grassland]] in central [[Asia]], mainly to the north and east of the [[Caspian Sea]]. It breeds in loose colonies, with three eggs being laid in a nest on the bare ground or among short vegetation.

It feeds in a similar way to other plovers picking [[beetle]]s, [[termite]]s, [[ant]]s, [[grasshopper]]s, small [[snail]]s and other small prey mainly from the ground. It sometimes eats the seeds of grasses.<ref name=BLI/>

==Status==
[[Image:Caspian Plover.ogg|thumb|300px|left|Caspian Plover in Saudi Arabia]]
The Caspian plover has a very wide range. The number of birds may be declining slowly due to degradation of its breeding range, especially in Europe, however the [[IUCN]] lists it as being of ''[[Least Concern]]" because it does not consider the rate of decline justifies putting it in a more threatened category.<ref name=BLI/>

It is one of the species to which the ''Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds'' ([[AEWA]]) applies.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Charadrius asiaticus}}
{{Wikispecies|Charadrius asiaticus}}
* Caspian plover - [http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/252.pdf Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds].

{{Taxonbar|from=Q752485}}

[[Category:Anarhynchus|Caspian plover]]
[[Category:Birds of Central Asia]]
[[Category:Wintering birds of Africa]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1773|Caspian plover]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Peter Simon Pallas]]