American Golden Plover
Pluvialis dominica
Also known as: Lesser Golden-Plover
Habitat
Ground
Diet
Invertebrate
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
151 g
About This Species
This plover breeds on Arctic tundra and undertakes a long migration to open grasslands, ploughed fields and coastal flats in South America, where it forages by running and pausing on bare or short ground, mainly around dawn, dusk and into the night. Look for a compact, upright plover with a plain golden-brown back and, in breeding plumage, a bold black face and underparts bordered by white. It is most detectable outside the breeding season by its soft, whistled call given in flight or while feeding in loose groups.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Feeding and roosting flocks are easily flushed from open ground, so approaching slowly, staying low, and keeping well back with binoculars or a scope is the safest way to watch without scattering the group.
- Migratory shorebirds are protected under international agreements and national wildlife laws across much of the species' range, though specific rules differ between countries, so it is worth checking local guidance, especially near protected wetlands and grasslands.
- Giving roosting or feeding flocks a wide berth is particularly important during migration, when birds need to conserve energy for onward travel.
Seasonal Activity
237,987 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Charadriidae
Traits
- Diet
- Invertebrate
- Foraging
- Ground
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 151 g
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.