Common Ringed Plover

The common ringed plover is a small, compact wader with a brown back, white belly, black breast band and an orange bill with a black tip. On the beach it runs in short dashes, stops abruptly, then pecks at the sand for worms and small crustaceans: this stop-and-go rhythm is typical of plovers. When a predator approaches the nest, it pretends to have a broken wing and limps away to lure the intruder elsewhere. Its eggs are so well camouflaged among the pebbles that they are barely visible. In the Vendée it is seen mostly outside the breeding season, on the beach, mudflats and rocky shore.