Lesser Sand Plover Charadrius mongolus/atrifrons

The Lesser Sand Plover, also Lesser Sandplover, breeds from the Himalayas across to Siberia and Mongolia and winters in Africa, South Asia and Australasia.

A male in breeding plumage is shown above in southeastern Kazakhstan. Some authorities treat the eastern two of the five subspecies as a separate species, the Mongolian Sand Plover, which then takes the binomial name of C. mongolus and the Lesser Sand Plover (remaining three subspecies including that shown) becomes C. atrifrons. The slightly larger Greater Sand Plover is difficult to tell apart from the Lesser Sand Plover (and Mongolian Sand Plover) in summer and winter plumage. This was identified in the field by a local expert.