Charadrius pecuarius
The Kittlitz’s Plover is a familiar bird occurring throughout South Africa. It is found in open areas – such as sandy beaches with washed-up kelp, salt pans, mudflats and other flat areas with short grass, like pastures, golf courses and airfields – and usually near water. It would seem that the huge number of artificial impoundments built all over our country has assisted this species to expand its range and numbers locally. They are highly nomadic and move around the south of our continent in apparent response to rainfall. Kittlitz’s Plovers feed on insects pecked from the ground.
These little plovers breed throughout the year, forming monogamous pairs of which both members take turns to incubate the clutch of 1-3 eggs in a nest that is little more than a scrape in the ground over a 3-4 week period. The chicks leave the nest within a day of hatching to follow their parents around on foraging excursions. The chicks start to fly when they’re about a month old. Adult Kittlitz’s Plover measure only about 13cm in length and weigh around 35g. When not breeding they’re usually seen in small groups of up to 20, though much larger flocks have been reported and is probably a feature of nomadic movements.
Kittlitz’s Plover is distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the Nile Valley and Madagascar, and the IUCN lists the species as being of least concern.
DeWetsWild 
Cute. They remind me of the Little Stint that we have here.
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We actually have a post on the Little Stint lined up for the near future too!
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Hulle is klein! Pragtige voeltjie!
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En met daai klein lyfies kruip hulle goed weg, net om mens n hartstilstand te gee wanneer hulle skielik hier neffens jou opstyg!
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Ek kan dink mens sal skrik! Is hulle kleiner as strandlopertjies?
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Hulle is omtrent net so groot soos die heel kleinste strandlopertjies, Aletta. Die “gewone” strandlopers en ruiters is baie groter as hierdie outjies.
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Dan is hulle baie klein. 😊Dankie
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Jou laaste foto is pragtig – so lekker om sommer die ou kraal ogie van naby te sien!
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Ek was baie in my skik dat die skaam ou voeltjie dit so naby gewaag het!
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Plovers are our year-round beach residents here in FL.
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People would pay good money for that privilege!
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They live pretty cheep! 😉
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Lovely photos of this sweet little Plover, DeWets. I especially like the one with the reflection in the water!
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Thank you very much!
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Cute little things with such soft colors.
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And they’re excellent at going unseen!
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