48. The Ringed Plover

BirdLife's official bird checklist gives a total of about 50 wading bird species recorded in Malta. Several of these are rare enough to send your average birdwatcher into cardiac arrest. Others are more regular, like the Ringed Plover. The Ringed Plover is a chubby little character, very prim and neat in its black-white-buff livery. As with most waders, the Ringed Plover (M: Monakella Prima) makes a living on sandy and muddy shores and estuaries, picking off small invertebrates along the waterline. The best place to see this bird in Malta is at Ghadira nature reserve, where up to a handful regularly turn up in spring and summer to check out for tasty morsels along the shores of the lake. [The reserve is presently closed for maintenance but the lake is easily visible from the nearby plateau just south of the site, and with a pair of binoculars you can pick out any waders present].

Text by Victor Falzon, picture by Chris Cachia Zammit.

Copyright to Birdlife Malta.