Scientific name: Hoplopterus spinosus (Linnaeus 1758)
Bird group: Waders
Field characters. 25-27 cm. A characteristic piebald plover with black forehead, crown, and nape. Sides of face below eye and neck white, with broad black line from bill to centre of black forebody. Back and wings buff-grey; tail and primary tips black; rump white. In flight, broad white panel on inner wing, located between buff-grey forewing and black edge of hindwing. Bill and legs black. Juvenile resembles adult but with pale fringes on upperparts and chest.
Voice. Common call a loud "zik-zik-zik"
Distribution. Rare summer visitor in Greece.
Habitat. Coastal marshes of low salinity, marshes, and arable land near water.
Food. Hunts by sight, securing prey after a few quick paces, taking mainly invertebrates, particularly insects.