Kittlitz's plover (Anarhynchus pecuarius) is a small shorebird (35–40 g) in the family Charadriidae that breeds near coastal and inland saltmarshes, sandy or muddy riverbanks or alkaline grasslands with short vegetation.

The mantle is dark grey-brown, and the other upperparts are sooty brown with feathers featuring sandy rufous margins.

The face, chin and upper throat are white, while the rest of the underparts take on a yellowish hue, with a pale belly.

In this stage, the eye stripe takes on a browner shade, and the frontal bar is absent, while the underparts become considerably paler.

[4] Juvenile Kittlitz's plovers closely resemble adults; however, they lack the black face marks, their upperparts appear brown, the hindneck collar is buff in color, and their underparts are white.

[5] The African populations are partially sedentary in coastal areas, but mostly nomadic or migratory with their movements varying between years in response to rainfall.

In the lower Mangoky basin for instance, they are thought to be resident, whereas at the Lake Tsimanampetsotsa, ringed adults have been recorded to have moved 113 km to Ifaty.

It breeds at lakes, alkaline grasslands, lagoons, rivers, tidal mudflats or inland saltmarshes and artificial water bodies including commercial salt pans,[6][5][2] but generally avoids sandy or rocky beaches.

When foraging, they can show an aggressive behaviour, especially towards conspecifics and species with similar diets, e.g. curlew sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea) or common ringed plover (Charadrius hiaticula).

When intruders invade their territory representing a threat, the parents run after them, stopping shortly in front of them, taking on an upright posture with their legs almost straight and their head up.

[21] The Kittlitz's plover is a ground-nesting shorebird, that breeds throughout the whole year, although there are varying peak seasons in different geographic locations.

[20] The simple nest scrape is usually made 50–100 m away from water on open, dry ground at low elevation, from where it is easy to spot intruders.

[6] They eggs are oval, dark grey-maroon with black speckles giving and overall sand-coloured or light brown background.

The chicks are precocial and can feed for themselves from 24 hours after hatching; one parent usually leads them to foraging areas up to 1 km away from the nest.

Kittlitz's plovers exhibit uniparental care, where only one parent (either male or female) stays with the young and broods them in frequent intervals until they can fly at 26–32 days.

The parents actively defend their young against conspecifics or intruders by a) feigning injury to attract more attention on themselves by lying flat on the ground, flapping their wings in a helpless manner, fanning their tail or running away or towards intruder, b) false brooding or c) running with head held low, tail drooped and spread wings.

Although not much is known about population trends due to difficulties in assessing the impact of habitat modifications, any declines appear to be below the threshold that would be identified as threatening.

[1] Kittlitz's plover is locally very abundant in East, South and Central Africa, with a population size estimated at 100,000–400,000 individuals.