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Red-capped Plover

 

Anarhynchus ruficapillus

IUCN status: Least concern

Population 95 000 (2022 estimate)

Description
Peter Harms
King Street Mudflats
June 2026

Identification

Small grey-brown plover that is white underneath and has a red-brown crown. Very little change in appearance during the year.

Plumage

Adult Plumage: Male: The crown of the head and the nape are chestnut.  The forehead is white edged with black.  The rest of the upperparts are sandy-brown with the underparts are white.  The bill is short and black; the legs are black.  Female: The colouration is paler and the chestnut cap and nape are patchy.

Juvenile:  Similar to the female but the cap and nape are paler still.

 

Confusing Species

Siberian Sand Plover:     Lager than the Red-cap and does not have the chestnut crown and nape.

Double-banded Plover: Lager than the Red-cap and does not have the chestnut crown and nape. Has a double band on the chest in breeding plumage.

Distribution

 

 

 Endemic. Found in all but very arid areas of Australia. Can be found on sandy beaches, intertidal mudflats, salt marshes and shorelines of brackish lakes. Usually on bare open sand or mud; rarel;y enters water.

Monthly reports of Red-capped Plover in Queensland

Monthly sightings

Best sites in Queensland to see Red-capped Plover

Yearly trends in Queensland

Conservation 

EPBC listing:  Not listed as threatened.

 

 

References

  1. eBird. 2021. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance [web application]. eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Available:  http://www.ebird.org (Accessed: Date 12/4/2026)
  2. Rogers A, Fuller RA & Amano T (2023) Australia’s migratory shorebirds: Trends and prospects. Report to the National Environmental Science Program. University of Queensland, Brisbane.
  3. Geering, Andrew, Lindsay Agnew, and Sandra Harding, eds. Shorebirds of Australia. Csiro Publishing, 2007.
  4. Driessen, J., Kidd, L. R., Weller, D. R., Purnell, C., Maguire, G., Jaensch, R., and LeClair, S. M. (2025). Australian National Directory of Important Migratory Shorebird Habitat. Report for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. BirdLife Australia, Melbourne.
  5. van Swinderen, L., Hansen, B.D., Fuller, R.A., Watkins, D., Rogers, D.I., Clemens, R.S., Newman, M., Woehler, E.J., Weller, D.R. and LeClair, S. (2025). Revision of the East Asian – Australasian Flyway Population Estimates for 37 listed Migratory Shorebird Species. Report for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. BirdLife Australia, Melbourne.
  6. https://sproggies63.github.io/birding_apps/