Greater Sand-Plover - Parthasarathy Gopalan
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Contributor

Parthasarathy Gopalan Media from this contributor Profile

Date

Location

Garacharma Wetlands
South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India
Media from this location Illustrated Checklist
Map
Map Coordinates: 11.6183, 92.7063
Age
Not specified
Sex
Not specified

Observation details

It was fairly straightforward on this occasion to identify both the sand plovers as they were seen in the same location. The Greater Sand Plovers were relatively larger, stockier, with a more squarish head and a flatter crown. The bill was longer, heavier and tapered to a point. The bill length appeared to be more than the distance between the base of the bill to the rear of the eye in GSP.. The legs appeared longer and were much lighter green in colour than the Lesser's. The Tibio-tarsal ratio in the GSP was more than that in the LSP. The stance of the bird was rather more horizontal, compared to the LSP. After reviewing the images on the computer, the Tarsus: Bill Length ratio of the GSP was around 1.6 whereas that of the LSP was uniformly closer to 1.8-2.0. The calls of the two species were also slightly different.

Technical information

Model
Canon EOS REBEL T5i
ISO
250
Focal length
600 mm
Flash
Flash did not fire
f-stop
f/6.3
Shutter speed
1/1000 sec
Dimensions
1322 pixels x 841 pixels
Original file size
253.4 KB