Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)

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A Field Guide to Eastern Birds. by Roger Tory Peterson.

Return to Eastern Plovers

Summer

Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of John Cassady

Winter

Color Photograph: Copyright Robert Benson, Center for Bioacoustics, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)

Identification: Length from tip of bill to tip of tail 5 to 7 inches.

Summer: Back light gray-brown. Crown of head light gray-brown with a black patch on the forehead. Side of head white with a diffuse dark patch behind the eye. Bill black. Neck, breast, and undersides white. A black stripe arising at the base of the neck, not continued around the the neck. Legs dark, blackish.

Winter: Similar to the adult, but black, forehead marking absent, and stripe at the base of the neck brown, not black.

Similar Species:  The Snowy Plover is easily mistaken for a Piping Plover. The Piping Plover has a partially yellow bill, and dull orange legs.

Breeding Range (see map below): The Snowy Plover is resident along the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to Mexico and along the Gulf Coast from southeastern Texas to Florida. The species is also found in the Old World.

Overwintering Range:  See above.

Habitat: The Snowy Plover is found along sandy beaches and sandy coastal regions with sparse plant cover.

Food:  Primarily small marine vertebrates.

Behavior: Snowy Plovers are fast runners. They tend to spend most of their time is wide expanses of sand. The voice is a haunting chu-wee.

Reproduction:  The clutch consists of 2 to 3 tan eggs spotted with black. The eggs are laid in a sandy depression lined with bits and grass and shell fragments.