Who would ever have expected to see plovers on the banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai?
The Huangpu River is the “mother river” of Shanghai that flows north throughout Shanghai. It passes some of the most population-dense regions of the city, including Lujiazui and the Bund, and provides green paths on both banks for people to go biking, jogging, or just to have a walk. During low tides, the tidal marshes on the bank of the river expose and attract some tiny cute dudes to forage here.
The little ringed plover (Charadrius dubius) is a native species of wading birds in Shanghai, China. The species is widely distributed throughout Africa and Eurasia. Many of the species’ populations are migratory. They typically breed in high-latitude regions across the Eurasia continent from West and North Europe to Japan and overwinter in Africa, southeast China, and islands in Southeast Asia. There are also resident populations in South and Southeast Asia.
Little ringed plovers are remarkably urban-adaptive species. According to iNaturalist, people have been observing them in European cities including Madrid, Saint Petersburg, and Milan, where humans are concentrated. They usually appear on sandy beaches, grasslands, and tidal marshes given that their main diet includes insects and other small invertebrates.
Photo Credit: Aria Zhang
- Urban Observation: Little Ringed Plovers on Urban Tidal Marshes - January 14, 2024
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