Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)

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

Return to Eastern Plovers

Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of John Cassady

Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)

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

Summer: Crown or head and back brown. Underside of body white. Head with a thin, white band under the crown from the forehead to the back of the eye. Face with a brown mask from the base of the bill to the back of the neck. Bill short and stubby, with the base commonly orange-yellow. Base of neck with a wide, dark brown collar wrapping around the neck.

Winter: Similar to the summer plummage, but usually lighter in color. Neck collar may be interrupted.

Immature: Similar to adult, but bill all black.

Similar Species:  The Semipalmated Plover can be confused with Wilson's Plover. Wilson's Plover is a consistently larger species. More importantly the bill of Wilson's Plover is much larger and thicker than that of the Semipalmated Plover.

Breeding Range (see map below): Wilson's Plover breeds throughout the tundra regions of Alaska and northern Canada. The species also breeds along the coastal regions of Maritime Canada.

Overwintering Range:  This species overwinters along the Atlantic Coast from Virginia to southern Florida and westward along the Gulf Coast to southeastern Texas. Overwintering individuals are also found along the Pacific Coast.

Habitat: The Semipalmated Plover breeds on mossy or sandy tundra. Overwinter and migrating individuals are found on beaches, mudflats, and the shores of lakes.

Food: Small littoral invertebrates.

Behavior: Like most plovers, the Semipalmated Plover is usually seen running rapidly over ocean beaches and mudflats and stopping suddenly. The species migrates in flocks, but feeds alone. The voice is is a whsitled chur-wee.

Reproduction:  The clutch consists of 4 tan eggs spotted with dark brown. The eggs are laid in a depression in the tundra lightly lined with pebbles, shell pieces, and moss.