Piping Plover Charadrius melodus
- IdentificationVisual tips about this species
- BehaviourHabitat, behaviour, and food
- PopulationSubspecies and numbers
- ReproductionNesting and eggs
Identification
The Piping Plover is white below, has a black forehead mark, a black breast band that may be complete or broken, orange legs and a black tipped, stubby orange bill. In winter plumage, the bill is all black and the forehead and breast marks are absent. It is told from the Snowy Plover by its bill and leg color in breeding season and by its lighter back, thicker bill and leg color in winter. The similar Semipalmated Plover can be separated by its much darker upperparts in all plumages.
Voice
Their most common call is a melodious ‘peep-lo’, that is uttered with the clear tones of an organ.
Length
7.25in
Behaviour
On the beach, the Piping Plover hunting for food is a familiar sight. It runs a short distance, then pauses, cocks its head to one side to scrutinize the sand as if looking for movement, followed by a quick peck to pick something up.
Migration
The Piping Plover's entire range is in North America. It migrates early and may be on its breeding grounds by late March. It begins arriving back on the Gulf coast by early August.
Habitat
Sandy beaches, river sandbars and alkali lake sand flats.
Food
In the interior it feeds on insects. On the coast its diet consists of crustaceans, marine worms and insects.
Population trends
Is endangered throughout its range. Human disturbances disrupt coastal breeding and human attempts to control water levels often cause flooding of interior nest sites. It probably has never recovered from its near extinction at the hands of hunters in the late 1800's.
Where in US
Found from North Carolina to the Atlantic Provinces and around the Great Lakes. It also breeds in the northern Great Plains and south-central Canada. In winter it occurs from south Texas to North Carolina.
Nests
A scrape on the ground, lined with pebbles or shell fragments, if at all. Located on the upper-parts of sandy beaches, river sand flats or flats around large inland lakes. Often nests close to, or in, colonies of terns.
Eggs
3-5, creamy-buff with fine black and gray spots. Single-brooded.
Powered by