Species that show obvious population declines are relatively easy to categorize as globally threatened under IUCN Red List criteria. However, species whose populations are highly concentrated at a few inaccessible sites that are unprotected or habitat-threatened and then disperse are more difficult to pigeon-hole. Here we re-assess the conservation status of one such species - the Chestnut-banded Plover Charadrius pallidus - that occurs across Africa in specialized, inaccessible and arid habitat.