The greater sand plover (Anarhynchus leschenaultii) is a small wader in the plover family of birds. The spelling is often given as "greater sandplover" or "greater sand-plover", but the official IOC and British Ornithologists' Union spelling is "Greater Sand Plover". The specific leschenaultii commemorates the French botanist Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour. Like most other species in the genus Anarhynchus, it was until recently included in the genus Charadrius.
Subspecies
There are three subspecies:
- A. l. leschenaultii, the nominate, in the east of the species' range in Mongolia and NW China. Bill intermediate; summer plumage with a weak orange breast band.
- A. l. scythicus, in the centre of the species' range in Central Asia. Bill largest in the species; summer plumage with a moderate orange breast band. Syn. A. l. crassirostris; this name is however preoccupied by a subspecies of Wilson's plover, A. wilsonia crassirostris described 48 years earlier.