Under the scorching noontime sun, the mother and father birds take turns brooding on the eggs, changing shifts every seventeen to twenty minutes and first moistening their under feathers to lower the temperature of the eggs. The shells are sandy in color, and the twigs, pebbles, and bits of plastic that the parent birds have placed around the nest create excellent camouflage. This nest contains three eggs, each buried about two thirds of the way in the sand. Why the birds stay behind to reproduce is still unclear and awaits further investigation.Ī stretch of sand strewn with litter and miscellaneous objects is the plover's preferred nesting place. There, in the burning-hot sand, the parent birds toil to bring up the next generation.īecause the Oriental snowy plover has always been considered a migratory bird, this new discovery holds considerable significance for ornithologists. Their nests are located mostly in dry sand in tidal areas at the mouths of rivers and streams. In recent years bird lovers have discovered that an extremely small number of the birds remain on Taiwan from May to July each year to breed and reproduce. It has strong defensive instincts and often chases away birds of other species that invade its territory. The Oriental snowy plover is a migratory bird with solitary habits that commonly visits Taiwan during the winter, when it can be seen racing across the mud and sands at ocean's edge in pursuit of tiny crabs or other small prey scurrying back to their holes.
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