Crab-plover

About Crab-plover

• It is a long-legged, black and white bird of Indian Ocean coasts, related to plovers and allied species of shorebirds.
• This is the only shore bird that lays white eggs and chicks remain inside the burrows until the fledging stage.
• The chicks are semi-nidifugous, unlike chicks of other shorebirds that leave the nests shortly after hatching.
• Distribution:
  • They are residents on the coasts and islands of the Indian Ocean.
  • They breed around the Arabian Sea of Pakistan, the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, Red Sea,Somalia the Andaman Islands and Sri Lanka in the east and Tanzania and Madagascar.
• Habitat
  • These birds inhabit sandy coastlines, mudflats, estuaries, lagoons, exposed coral reefs, and rocky shorelines.
  • During the breeding season, they can also be found in sand dunes.
• Conservation Status
  • IUCN: Least Concern
  • It is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

Key points about Point Calimere sanctuary

• It was established in the year of 1967 and is situated in the state of Tamil Nadu.
• It houses the famous bird sanctuary of Vedaranyam and the Talaignayar forests.
• It is flanked by the Bay of Bengal in the east, and Palk Strait in the south.
• It primarily focuses on the protection and conservation of the black antelopes, an endangered and endemic species that are found in this region. 
• It is designated as a Ramsar site.

Q1) What are Lagoons?

Lagoons are shallow bodies of water that are usually separated from the open ocean or a larger body of water by a barrier, such as a sandbar, barrier island, or coral reef. They can also be found along the coastlines of lakes and rivers. Lagoons come in a variety of types and serve important ecological and environmental roles.

Source: For the first time, breeding nests of crab-plovers spotted at Great Vedaranyam Swamp