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American Golden-Plover Identification

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The Four Keys to ID

  • Size & Shape

    A medium-sized shorebird with a rather large head, slim neck, long, pointed wings, and relatively long legs. The bill is short, slender, and straight.

    Relative Size

    Larger than a Killdeer, slightly smaller than a Black-bellied Plover.

    Relative Sizebetween robin and crowbetween robin and crow

    Measurements
    • Both Sexes
      • Length: 9.4-11.0 in (24-28 cm)
      • Weight: 4.3-6.8 oz (122-194 g)
      • Wingspan: 25.6-26.4 in (65-67 cm)

    Shape of the American Golden-Plover© Ian Davies / Macaulay Library
  • Breeding birds are gold-spangled above, blackish below, with a white “scarf” extending from brow to breast sides. Juveniles and nonbreeding birds still show some gold tones above but are dingy grayish below.

    Color pattern of the American Golden-Plover
    © Ian Davies / Macaulay Library
  • American Golden-Plovers forage in typical plover fashion, running along and suddenly stopping to scan or seize prey. They form flocks in migration and on wintering grounds. Their flight is swift and direct.

  • Burned, plowed, and harvested agricultural fields, pastureland, sod farms, estuaries, mudflats, prairie, and tundra.

    © Shailesh Pinto / Macaulay Library