Common Name : Crab Plover
Scientific name: Dromas ardeola
Status in the Region: Common near known sites and Occasional on inland creeks 7 mudflats.
Place: Jamnagar, Gujarat, India
Site Habitat: Roosting on Sandy shore during high tide....
Date: 1st Jan 2011
Equipment: Canon 40 D with Canon 100-400 mm IS lens
Notes:
You realize the beauty of even Black & white when you see this bird. A unique of its kind, the Crab Plover (Dromas ardeola) looks like an Avocet, the beak is like a Great thick-knee, feeds like a plover, yet it nests in burrows….No wonder it is a sole representative of the family Dromadeidae.
Crab Plovers are much 'sought after' by birders because of its unusual appearance and rarity, having a very limited world distribution, which in turn appears to be due to the limited availability of suitable nest-sites in close proximity to an abundant supply of crabs, which dominate their diet. Indeed only nine nesting colonies are known in the entire world. The crab plovers are found on shores and on reefs around the coasts of the Indian Ocean. They come to roost (usually on one leg) along the shores during the high tide. The most interesting thing about this bird is its nesting behavior. Unlike any other wader it nests in burrows in sand dunes. The Crab plovers make their burrows in small colonies, honeycombing the sandy ground so it becomes difficult to walk across the colony without the ground caving in under one's feet.
Here, I could go quite close near a flock on a sandy seashore where they come to roost during high tide, however, the bruises and pain that I had to experience while crouching on my elbows in that sharp shell laden shore was worth when I got to see them up close….. was also very happy that I could turn back the same way crouching (after photographing) without making them fly off :-)
Scientific name: Dromas ardeola
Status in the Region: Common near known sites and Occasional on inland creeks 7 mudflats.
Place: Jamnagar, Gujarat, India
Site Habitat: Roosting on Sandy shore during high tide....
Date: 1st Jan 2011
Equipment: Canon 40 D with Canon 100-400 mm IS lens
Notes:
You realize the beauty of even Black & white when you see this bird. A unique of its kind, the Crab Plover (Dromas ardeola) looks like an Avocet, the beak is like a Great thick-knee, feeds like a plover, yet it nests in burrows….No wonder it is a sole representative of the family Dromadeidae.
Crab Plovers are much 'sought after' by birders because of its unusual appearance and rarity, having a very limited world distribution, which in turn appears to be due to the limited availability of suitable nest-sites in close proximity to an abundant supply of crabs, which dominate their diet. Indeed only nine nesting colonies are known in the entire world. The crab plovers are found on shores and on reefs around the coasts of the Indian Ocean. They come to roost (usually on one leg) along the shores during the high tide. The most interesting thing about this bird is its nesting behavior. Unlike any other wader it nests in burrows in sand dunes. The Crab plovers make their burrows in small colonies, honeycombing the sandy ground so it becomes difficult to walk across the colony without the ground caving in under one's feet.
Here, I could go quite close near a flock on a sandy seashore where they come to roost during high tide, however, the bruises and pain that I had to experience while crouching on my elbows in that sharp shell laden shore was worth when I got to see them up close….. was also very happy that I could turn back the same way crouching (after photographing) without making them fly off :-)
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Regards,
Adesh Shivkar
Mumbai, India
http://natureindia.ning.com/
--
I Believe In God, Only spell It Nature
*******************************************
One should not have a job, career or profession- only a hobby, passion and a cause
Adesh Shivkar
Mumbai, India
http://natureindia.ning.com/
--
I Believe In God, Only spell It Nature
*******************************************
One should not have a job, career or profession- only a hobby, passion and a cause
--
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