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Three Javan plover individuals, a near-threatened species that was believed to be endemic to Indonesia until recent years, were spotted in Singapore last month.

A landmark sighting

Not one, but three of these birds were seen off northeastern coast of Singapore.

When Frankie Cheong, a bird enthusiast in Singapore, saw the birds on the morning of July 16, he said the birds were foraging some 20m to 30m away.

He later documented his sighting in detail on Singapore Bird Group's blog.

Through his viewfinder, Cheong initially thought the birds were Kentish plovers, one of 10 plovers recorded on the Singapore Bird List.

The Kentish plover is an uncommon winter visitor and passage migrant in Singapore.

It was after Cheong shared his sighting on Facebook when he realised the bird is of a much rarer species than he originally thought.

He later learnt from fellow birders Dave Bakewell and James Eaton that the birds he had sighted were Javan plovers.

This is a species that has not been recorded in Singapore before.

Three waders: two adults and one juvenile

Cheong's sighting of the Javan plover in July may not be the very first record.

Looking through his archives, Cheong said that he could have seen the birds earlier on June 20.

During the earlier sighting, Cheong said there were also three waders, one of which looked like a juvenile. Cheong sent the photos to James Eaton, a conservationist and the director of Birdtour Asia, who concurred that they are Javan plovers.

This could signify that the Javan plovers had bred in Singapore, another record first for Singapore and the region.

According to the Singapore Bird Group blog post, the last time that a similar event like this took place was 23 years ago, when a savanna nightjar appeared in 1988.

Birds could be more adaptable than expected

These littles waders inhabit beaches, tidal flats, fishponds, and scrubby land near coastal ponds in Indonesia, said Yong Ding Li, an Asia programme manager for migratory bird conservation at Birdlife International, in response to Mothership's queries.

More specifically, the bird's main population is found in Java, Bali and a group of islands called the Lesser Sundas.

Yong, himself, has seen the birds beside a mangrove creek in a scrubby-sandy patch in the outskirts of Jakarta.

Once thought to be endemic to Indonesia, the Javan Plover was sighted in Timor-Leste in recent years, a country to the south of Indonesia, as told by Yong.

The shorebirds have also been found further up north of Indonesia, in Sumatra and Belitung. Now, they are sighted in Singapore as well.

While it is unsure why the birds are moving to new areas, the latest observations of their distribution show that this species is more adaptable than what birders have expected, Yong said.

About Javan plovers

The plumage of the small shorebird is mostly sandy brown on top, with white lores, white supercilium extending behind eye and white collar, buff-coloured eyestripe and breast patches.

Its bill is long and black and its legs are long and flesh-coloured.

Yong said the wading birds breed year-round on beaches, and other coastal areas.

In clutches of two to three eggs, the eggs are laid in a gentle depression on the ground.

Javan plover hatchlings likely take around a month to fledge, Yong suggested as he compares this species with the Malaysian plover which is a closely related species.

Only left between 1,300 and 4,000 individuals globally

Yong said that the distribution of Javan plovers appears to be expanding north-west over the past decade.

"The sighting shows how little we know about the distributions (and changes in distributions) of many species of birds in Southeast Asia," he added.

While the distribution is wider than expected, the small population of Javan plover has been on the decline.

Globally, the estimated population of wild Javan plover is between 1,300 and 4,000, and the species is classified as "Near-Threatened", according to BirdLife International.

Yong added that the coastal and wetland areas, the habitat of many shorebirds including Javan plovers, are heavily threatened by development and human activity.

These areas need to be better conserved and protected, as the species of shorebirds inhabit at a limited and linear range along the coast.

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Top image from Frankie Cheong/Facebook