American Golden-Plover
Pluvialis dominica
Slender, long-winged plover usually found in relatively dry habitats. Breeding plumage shows black belly and face, white neck sides, and dark back and crown spangled with gold. Note sides and undertail coverts entirely black, but beware females and molting birds can be mottled with some white. Nonbreeding plumage is much drabber; grayish overall with distinct white eyebrow and dark cap. Juveniles are crisp and neatly spangled above, washed with gold on the upperparts. At all seasons, note slender shape and narrow bill to separate from Black-bellied Plover, along with grayish underwing in flight. Extremely similar to Pacific Golden-Plover; American is slightly longer-winged, shorter-legged, and smaller-billed, but these features are difficult to judge. Juvenile American is usually duller than Pacific, especially on the face and neck. Average habitat preferences are important (Pacific Golden and Black-bellied more regular on beaches and mudflats), but much overlap. Range is also important. Breeds on Arctic tundra. Fairly common migrant through central North America, uncommon on East Coast, rare on Pacific Coast. During migration, prefers sod fields, dry mudflats, and pastures; often in small flocks, sometimes mixed with Black-bellied Plover. Winters in South America. Note voice: a plaintive “pleedoo” call.
识别特征
Measurements:<p>The breeding adult American Golden-plover has a black face, neck, breast, and belly, with a white crown and nape that extends to the side of the breast. The back is mottled black and white with pale, gold spots. The breeding female is similar, but with less black. When in winter plumage, both sexes have grey-brown upperparts, pale grey-brown underparts, and a whitish eyebrow. The head is small, along with the bill.<p>It is similar to two other Golden-plovers, European and Pacific. The American Golden-plover is smaller, slimmer and relatively longer-legged than European golden plover (Pluvialis apricaria) which also has white axillary (armpit) feathers. It is more similar to Pacific golden plover (Pluvialis fulva) with which it was once considered conspecific under the name "lesser golden plover". The Pacific golden plover is slimmer than the American species, has a shorter primary projection, and longer legs, and is usually yellower on the back.
分类信息
- 学名
- Pluvialis dominica
- 命名信息
- (Müller, PLS, 1776)
- 目
- Charadriiformes
- 科
- Charadriidae
- 属
- Pluvialis
分布与栖息地
The breeding habitat of American golden plover is Arctic tundra from northern Canada and Alaska. They nest on the ground in a dry open area. They are migratory and winter in southern South America. They follow an elliptical migration path; northbound birds pass through Central America about January–April and stage in great numbers in places like Illinois before their final push north. In fall, they take a more easterly route, flying mostly over the western Atlantic and Caribbean Sea to the wintering grounds in Patagonia. The bird has one of the longest known migratory routes of over 40,000 km (25,000 mi). Of this, 3,900 km (2,400 mi) is over open ocean where it cannot stop to feed or drink. It does this from body fat stores that it stocks up on prior to the flight. It is a regular vagrant to western Europe.<p>A comparison of dates and migratory patterns leads to the conclusion that Eskimo curlews and American golden plovers were the most likely shore birds to have attracted the attention of Christopher Columbus to the nearby Americas in early October 1492, after 65 days at sea out of sight of land.
- 繁殖区
- NA : high Arctic to subarctic, Alaska and n, ne Canada: nw, n, e Alaska, Yukon to nc British Columbia e to w Hudson Bay and Baffin I. (ne Canada)
- 非繁殖区
- coastal se Brazil and inland grassland, Paraguay to ec Argentina and coastal se Argentina
- 迁徙
- Complete migrants
行为
This bird uses scrape nests, lining them with lichens, grass, and leaves. At its breeding grounds, it is very territorial, displaying aggressively to neighbors. Some American plovers are also territorial in their wintering grounds.<p>The American golden plover lays a clutch of four white to buff eggs that are heavily blotched with both black and brown spots. The eggs generally measure around 48 by 33 mm (1+7⁄8 by 1+5⁄16 in). These eggs are incubated for a period of 26 to 27 days, with the male incubating during the day and the female during the night. The chicks then hatch precocial, leaving the nest within hours and feeding themselves within a day.<p>These birds forage for food on tundra, fields, beaches and tidal flats, usually by sight. They eat terrestrial earthworms, terrestrial snails, insects, insect larvae, crustaceans, fish, berries and seeds.
保护状况
- 种群趋势
- declining
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
Spectacled Guillemot
Cepphus carbo
Medium-sized seabird of rocky coasts. Breeding plumage distinctive, with coral-red feet and large white “spectacles” standing out against the otherwise blackish body. Underparts become largely white during winter and most of the “spectacles” are lost except for a thin eyering. Molting birds are coarsely barred below. Gives loud, high pitched “piiii” calls in its breeding areas.
Village Indigobird
Vidua chalybeata
Nest parasite that lays its eggs in the nests of Red-billed and Brown firefinches. Breeding males are glossy black, while females and non-breeding males are streaky and brown on the back and pale below, with a bold facial pattern. The color of the bill is red in southeast Africa and whitish in western, northern, and central Africa. Found in savanna, scrub, farmland, and towns. Mimics the vocalizations of its host firefinches: low rattling series and high-pitched whistled notes. In southeast Africa, can be separated from other indigobirds by its red bill. Very similar to other indigobirds elsewhere on the continent. Breeding males can be separated by their all-black wings that lack a pale brownish panel. The mimicked vocalizations of its host species can also help confirm identification. In non-breeding plumage, similar to non-breeding Pin-tailed Whydah but separated by red legs.
Australian Tern
Gelochelidon macrotarsa
Medium-sized tern with thick black bill. Very pale overall with black cap in breeding plumage. Legs black. Nonbreeding plumage shows small dark cheek patch. Found both coastally and inland in a variety of wetland habitats, including beaches, mudflats, freshwater marshes, and even wet fields. Occasionally joins flocks with other terns, but more often seen singly or in pairs. Graceful in flight; swoops over ponds and marshes where it grabs invertebrates from the surface. Formerly considered part of Gull-billed Tern, and limits of the range of that species and Australian in New Guinea and southern Indonesia poorly understood.
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