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Pluvialis dominica

(American Golden Plover, American Golden-Plover, Lesser Golden-Plover)

Overview:

Interesting Facts:

  • Golden Plovers log thousands of miles each year migrating from the Arctic Circle to the tropics of South American and back for the breeding season in the north. During migration, they join giant flocks of other migrant plovers forming vast, ever-changing flock formations during flight.
  • This plover was once nearly driven to extinction by hunters shooting for recreation.

Conservation Status

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Population Analysis

  • For the 56,576 species in the Class Aves (Birds), we average 371.87 observations each in our database; for the American Golden Plover, we have 3,598 observations. Compared to other species in this Class, this species is somewhat common.
  • A two-sample t-test can be used to determine whether the trend in observations of the American Golden Plover is the same as the trend in observations of Aves. Is this species just as common, as a proportion of all observations, as it once was? The answer is no, changes in observation rate of this species significantly differ from changes in observation rate of its Class. (t=21.523, p<0.001)
  • How do observation rates of the American Golden Plover differ from those of Aves? To answer this, we examined the percentage of observerations for Aves that were observations of the American Golden Plover each year. We then correlated this percentage with observation year. If observations of the American Golden Plover are becoming more common relative to other species of Aves, the correlation should be positive, but if it is becoming less common, the correlation should be negative. In fact, the correlation is negative (r=-.23), with a negative slope (m = -.000), suggesting that the American Golden Plover may be in decline relative to other species of Aves. This correlation is statistically significant. (F = 48.14, p<.05)
  • The scatter chart to the right shows the percentage of all observations for Aves each year that were observations of the American Golden Plover.

History:

  • 1988-Lower Risk/least concern (BirdLife International 2004)
  • 1994-Lower Risk/least concern (BirdLife International 2004)
  • 2000-Lower Risk/least concern (BirdLife International 2000)

Justification

This species has a large range, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 3,600,000 km². It has a large global population estimated to be 150,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2002). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e., declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Taxonomy

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  • Domain: Eukaryota Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
    • Kingdom: Animalia Linnaeus, 1758 - Linnaeus, 1758 - animals

Notes:

Name Status: Accepted Name.

Physical Description

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Family Charadriidae:

A family of birds that includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings, about 64 to 66 species in all. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short, thick necks and long, usually pointed, wings.

Adult:

Face: black Eyebrow Line: broad white stripe Bill: black Length: short Shape: thin Neck: black in front, white stripe down side Foreneck: black Body: Breast: black Underparts: black Upperparts: dark brown with manhy golden spots Tail: Undertail Coverts: black.

Adult Breeding Season:

Head: sides white Face: black Forehead: white Body: Breast: white sides Underparts: black Upperparts: dark brown spotted with golden-buff.

Adult Winter:

Head: sides white, mottled faintly with gray-brown Ear Coverts: dusky Bill: black Neck: Throat: sides white, mottled faintly with gray-brown Body: Belly: white Breast: sides white, mottled faintly with gray-brown Upperparts: dusky-brown, speckled with white to dull buff Legs: Leg Color: dusky.

Young:

Head: sides white, mottled faintly with gray-brown Ear Coverts: dusky Bill: black Neck: Throat: sides white, mottled faintly with gray-brown Body: Belly: white Breast: sides white, mottled faintly with gray-brown Underparts: streaked and mottled with whitish and pale grayish-brown Upperparts: similar to winter adult, but with more contrasting yellow-buff spotting Legs: Leg Color: dusky.

Size/Age/Growth:

About 10 to 11 inches long, with a wingspan of 18 to 22.5 inches. Adults weigh about 5.1 ounces.

Images:

Distribution

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Range and Population

Arctic coast of Alaska and northern Canadian provinces. Winter migrant to southeastern South America.

Habitat

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Found on mud flats, beaches, open pastures, plains, shorelines, and in fields.

Diet

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Highly insectivorous when dwelling on open plains and pastures. Consumes various crustaceans and mollusks on shores and open flats.

Reproduction

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  • Clutch Size: 4
  • Length of Incubation: 26-27? days
  • Days to Fledge: 22?
  • Number of Broods: 1?

Migration

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Migratory

Similar Species

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Pacific Golden Plover, Mountain Plover, Black-Bellied Plover

Members of the genus Pluvialis:

There are approximately 31 species and subspecies in this genus: P. aegyptius · P. alexandrinus · P. apricaria (Eurasian Golden-Plover) · P. apricaria altifrons (European Golden-Plover) · P. apricaria apricaria (European Golden-Plover) · P. apricaria oreophilos · P. apricarius · P. apricarius oreophilos · P. dominica (American Golden Plover) · P. dominica daminica · P. dominica dominica (American Golden Plover) · P. dominica fulva (American Golden Plover) · P. dominica ssp · P. dominicus · P. dubius · P. fulva (Pacific Golden Plover) · P. fulva fulva · P. leschenaultii · P. mongolus · P. obscura · P. peronii · P. squatarola (Black-Bellied Plover) · P. squatarola cynosurae · P. squatarola dominica · P. squatarola rusticola · P. squatarola squatarola · P. squatarola tomkovichi · P. squatarola wymani · P. squaterola · P. squatorola · P. squdtarola

Bibliography

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  • Alsop, Fred J. III. Birds of North America - Eastern Region. First American Edition. Smithsonian Handbooks. DK Publishing, Inc. 2001.
  • Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, A. L. Gardner, and W. C. Starnes 2003. Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada.
  • BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, U.K.
  • Ehrlich, P., Dobkin, D., and Wheye, D. (1988). The Birders Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds. New York: Simon and Schuster Inc. (info on clutch size, length of incubation, days to fledge and number of broods.)
  • Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc. (Length and wingspan info.)

More Info

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Notes

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Contributors:

  • Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 13, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 14 providers.

Data Sources:

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 13, 2008:

  • Avian Knowledge Network: eBird
  • Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum: Bishop Museum Natural History Specimen Data
  • Bird Studies Canada: BC Coastal Waterbird Survey
  • Bird Studies Canada: Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas 1981-1985
  • Bird Studies Canada: Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas 2001-2005
  • Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics
  • Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: North West Territories and Nunavut Bird Checklist, Canada
  • Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Ontario Nest Records
  • Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. Birds (Aves)
  • Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Royal British Columbia Museum
  • Canadian Museum of Nature: Canadian Museum of Nature Bird Collection
  • GBIF-Sweden: Birds (GBIF-SE:Artdatabanken)
  • Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University: Bay of Fundy Species List (OBIS Canada)
  • Mokpo Museum of Natural History: Mokpo Museum of Natural History Bird
  • National Chemical Laboratory: IndOBIS, Indian Ocean Node of OBIS
  • National Science Museum of Korea: National Science Museum of Korea Bird
  • New Brunswick Museum: NBM birds
  • Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History: Santa Barbara Musem of Natural History
  • UK National Biodiversity Network: Argyll Bird Club - Bird records for Argyll for the years 2002 and 2003
  • UNIBIO, IBUNAM: CNAV/Coleccion Nacional de Aves

Identifiers:

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Last Revised: May 17, 2008