Ringed Plover

The Ringed Plover is a rather small, delicate-looking bird that resembles the dunlin in size and feeding habits. It is grey, white, and black in colour with a distinctive ring of white around its neck. They most often appear during the months of August to October and November to January, although their plain colours can make them difficult to spot. Ringed Plovers reside in coastal areas, sometimes nesting inland or on stony beaches. They eat crustaceans and polychaete worms and, like other plovers, will hunt for their food by performing a definitive series of actions: run along the shore, pause, bend over, repeat. Fun fact: if a predator gets too close to their nest, the Ringed Plover will pretend to have a broken wing to draw the animal away from its territory.