Distinguer les Gravelots de Leschenault et mongol en plumage internuptial

Two large species of Plovers are regular in the Middle-East but very rare in France and in the bordering countries : the Greater Sand Plover (Charadrius leschenaultii) and the Lesser Sand Plover (Charadrius mongolus). They migrate from their Asian breeding grounds towards their wintering areas on the coasts of the Indian Ocean (Asia and Africa), and sometimes even on the atlantic coasts of Africa.
Exceptionally, they reach Western Europe where their identification is not easy. Indeed, it can be extremely difficult to identifyan isolated bird without any elements to compare it.
The aim of this article, written by Valéry Schollaert , is to point the criteria on which to focus to identify the two species in their Winter plumage, based on photographs. The case of the Caspian Plover (Charadrius asiaticus), much rarer and very different, is not aborded here.