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The Crab Plover
Dromas ardeola is a wader that
belongs to a separate family of
its own – Dromadidae. The black
beak, strong, thick and heavy is
unique among waders and this is
complimented with a characteristic
plover-like ‘run-stop-run-dip-action’
making it a magnifi cent crab hunter.
It feeds by picking, probing, slow
stalking, stabbing, crushing and
eating its prey. The bird mostly feeds
in fl ocks, and mainly on crabs, but it
also hunts other crustaceans, small
molluscs, marine worms and
intertidal invertebrates.
Vatsal TrivediThe Black-winged Stilt
Himantopus himantopus is a
long-legged wader in the avocet
and stilt family Recurvirostridae.
It prefers a range of waterlogged
habitats, and usually forages by
wading belly-deep in water, though
it also feeds on the edges of
wetland shallows. The bird uses
its long, slender bill like a pair
of fi ne tweezers to peck at tiny
invertebrates on the water’s surface,
grasping it with a slightly-open bill
and swallowing with a backward and
forward jerk of the head. Larger prey
such as crabs and fi sh are shredded
into smaller pieces before they
are swallowed.
Hemant Kumar