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Three-banded Plover Recorded in Turkey for the First Time

Three-banded Plover standing at the edge of shallow water
Conservation · Population & status

A three-banded plover (Thinornis tricollaris) photographed at Hancağız Dam in Gaziantep on 10 March 2026 became the first documented record of the species in Turkey.

Wildlife photographer Yakup Yener found the bird while visiting the wetland during the spring migration period. His photographs and observation were submitted to eBird and the Macaulay Library, where the record is dated 10 March and linked to Hancağız Dam in southeastern Turkey.

Anadolu Agency reported the discovery on 16 March and described the bird as the 504th species recorded in the country. News of the sighting quickly attracted birdwatchers to Hancağız Dam.

An African species far beyond its normal range

The record is striking because the three-banded plover is primarily an African species. Its core distribution extends across much of sub-Saharan Africa, with populations also on Madagascar. It is usually associated with the margins of freshwater wetlands, rivers, lakes and reservoirs, where it feeds on small invertebrates along exposed mud and shallow water.

Sources and image credit

  1. Yener, Y. (2026, March 10). Three-banded Plover (Thinornis tricollaris), ML652537656 [Photograph]. Macaulay Library, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/652537656
  2. BirdGuides. (2026, March 10). Three-banded Plover in Turkey [Sighting report]. https://www.birdguides.com/sightings/charadrius-tricollaris/4258263
  3. Anadolu Agency. (2026, March 16). Türkiye'de ilk kez ‘takkeli cılıbıt’ kuşu, Gaziantep'te görüldü. https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/yasam/turkiyede-ilk-kez-takkeli-cilibit-kusu-gaziantepte-goruldu/3866690

Image: Charles J. Sharp — Three-banded Plover in Chobe National Park, Botswana; high-resolution representative species image, not the bird recorded in Türkiye. Source: Wikimedia Commons. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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