The diademed sandpiper-plover or diademed plover (''Phegornis mitchellii'') is a

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in subfamily

Charadriinae Plovers ( , ) are a widely distributed group of wading birds belonging to the subfamily Charadriinae. Description There are about 66 species in the subfamily, most of them called "plover" or " dotterel". The closely related lapwing sub ...

of family

Charadriidae The bird family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings, about 64 to 68 species in all. Taxonomy The family Charadriidae was introduced (as Charadriadæ) by the English zoologist William Elford Leach in a guide to the con ...

. It is found in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

, and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

.HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6b. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6b_Jul22.zip retrieved December 5, 2022

Taxonomy and systematics

The diademed sandpiper-plover is the only member of its genus and has no subspecies. The species has at times been thought to belong to family

Scolopacidae Sandpipers are a large family, Scolopacidae, of waders. They include many species called sandpipers, as well as those called by names such as curlew and snipe. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil ...

(the sandpipers) but genetic data place it firmly with other plovers in family Charadriidae. It appears to be most closely related to several Australian and New Zealand plovers of genera Elseyornis, Peltohyas,

Anarhynchus The wrybill or (in Māori) ngutuparore (''Anarhynchus frontalis'') is a species of plover endemic to New Zealand. It is the only species of bird in the world with a beak that is bent sideways in one direction, always to the right (in the crossbil ...

, and

Pedionomus The plains-wanderer (''Pedionomus torquatus'') is a bird, the only representative of family Pedionomidae and genus ''Pedionomus''. It is endemic to Australia. The majority of the remaining population is found in the Riverina region of New So ...

.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved July 24, 2022Sayers II, C. J. (2020). Diademed Sandpiper-Plover (''Phegornis mitchellii''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.diaplo1.01 retrieved December 6, 2022

Description

The diademed sandpiper-plover is long and weighs . The sexes are alike. Their bill is black and slightly decurved. Their legs and feet are orange. The adult's face is black with a wide white supercilium than extends around the back of the head. Their crown is black, their nape bright rufous, most of their upperparts dark brownish gray, and their rump and uppertail

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are s ...

are black. The tail is black with white tips to the feathers. Their throat is white, their chest, belly, and flanks are barred black and white, and their vent and undertail coverts are unmarked white. Juveniles are much duller than adults. Their upperparts are mostly brownish gray with cinnamon speckles and bars. Their supercilium is grayish and their nape is washed with cinnamon or rufous.

Distribution and habitat

The diademed sandpiper-plover is found in the Andes from central Peru's

Department of Junín Junín () is a department and region in the central highlands and westernmost Peruvian Amazon. Its capital is Huancayo. Geography The region has a very heterogeneous topography. The western range located near the border with the Lima Reg ...

south through western Bolivia to central Chile and south-central Argentina. It is a habitat specialist found almost entirely in peatlands and bogs between the

frost line The frost line—also known as frost depth or freezing depth—is most commonly the depth to which the groundwater in soil is expected to freeze. The frost depth depends on the climatic conditions of an area, the heat transfer properties of the s ...

and snow line. The habitat is "characterized by a network of grassy banks interspersed with long streams and vernal pools". In elevation it ranges between in Peru though in the southern part of its range it is found as low as .

Behavior

The diademed sandpiper-plover is almost always seen alone or in pairs. It is not known if this is true social monogamy, territoriality, a function of its sparse population, or because of lack of enough study.

Migration

The diademed sandpiper-plover is an elevational migrant in the southern part of its range. Those nesting in the highest areas move to lower ones in March and return in October. The southernmost population is thought to be at least partially north-south migratory as well.

Feeding

The diademed sandpiper-plover typically forages alone or in pairs, probing in wet ground or in shallow water and picking prey from the water surface and aquatic plants. Its diet has not been detailed but is known to be mostly aquatic invertebrates.

Breeding

The diademed sandpiper-plover's egg period is from October to December in Chile and extends into January in Bolivia. Its nest is a hollow in the ground or a platform of dried grass. All documented clutches were of two eggs. The incubation period and time to fledging are not known.

Vocalization

A diademed sandpiper-plover call given while foraging and in flight is "a clipped ''pic'' or ''pic-pic''". What are thought to be alarm calls are "a plaintive, slightly drawn-out ''wheehu'', a less plaintive, fairly sharp ''whee-u!'', and a surprisingly loud screamed whistle, ''whEEHU!''."

Status

The IUCN has assessed the diademed sandpiper-plover as Near Threatened. It has a moderately large range but its estimated population of 1500 to 7000 mature individuals is believed to be decreasing. Though its habitat is thought to be relatively secure, " demand for water resources as well as overgrazing, road networks and human disturbance have been identified as threats". In addition, " e unique peatlands ecosystem of the high Andes is projected to be severely reduced as a result of climate change" with up to 75% expected to be lost by about the year 2100.

References

External links

Diademed sandpiper-plover photo gallery
VIREO (with picture of egg clutch)
Photo-High Res
Borderland-tours {{Taxonbar, from=Q1273063 diademed sandpiper-plover Birds of the Puna grassland diademed sandpiper-plover diademed sandpiper-plover Taxonomy articles created by Polbot