This bizarre wading bird is so unique that it has its own family. As the name suggests it primarily eats crabs but it is perhaps its breeding behaviour that really makes this species stand out. Crab Plovers nest in burrows where a large single egg is laid. The egg is often left for long periods without an incubating adult in attendance and it seems that residual ground heat in the burrow enures continuing egg development. When the egg hatches the youngster is initially unable to walk (unlike other wader chicks) and so is fed by both parents.
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sandy coasts and islands of Red Sea, Arabian Pen. and Persian Gulf (nw Indian Ocean)
Nonbreeding Range Subregions
e AF, India : tropical to subtropical Indian Ocean coasts: sw Indian Ocean coast to Mozambique and KwaZulu Natal, Malagasy region including coralline atolls of s, c Seychelles, Chagos Arch., Maldives (wc Indian Ocean), w coast of India, Sri Lanka and Anda
Africa (entire continent rather than south of Sahara)
AN
Antarctica
AO
Atlantic Ocean
AU
Australasia (Wallacea (Indonesian islands east of Wallace's line), New Guinea and its islands, Australia, New Zealand and its subantarctic islands, the Solomons, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu)
PAL
Eurasia (Europe, Asia from the Middle East through central Asia north of the Himalayas, Siberia and northern China to Japan)
IO
Indian Ocean
LA
Latin America (Middle and South America)
MA
Middle America (Mexico through Panama)
NA
North America (includes the Caribbean)
NO
Northern oceans
OR
Oriental Region (South Asia from Pakistan to Taiwan, plus Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and Greater Sundas)