Identification

Smaller, slimmer and leggier than Eurasian Golden Plovers, with grey, not white, feathering in the ‘armpit’. A bird still in summer plumage will be easily picked out because the white line bordering the black underparts is much bolder than on Eurasian Golden Plover, making a broad white stripe from above the eye to the side of the breast but stopping short of reaching the belly and flanks. In other plumages, it is the smaller size, skinnier build, greyer plumage and more prominent eyestripe that are most likely to indicate an American Golden Plover. To see whether your bird is a Pacific Golden Plover, look particularly at the rear end; the American species has a longer, thinner-looking rear in which the tertials stop well short of the tip of the tail but the primaries extend beyond it.

Habitat

Open fields and pastures, especially in the company of other Golden Plovers

Migration

Breeds in Arctic Canada and Alaska then migrates to northern South America. Most of these birds fly non-stop, only turning up in the rest of the USA if the flight is interrupted by bad weather. Returning birds however, are regularly seen in spring throughout the central plains area of the USA

This information is taken from the BirdFile on the appropriate BirdGuides DVD-ROM. As well as video and sounds, our CD- and DVD-ROMs contain additional text on Voice, Sexing, Ageing, Food, Nests and Eggs and more.

For the purposes of our bird news services, American Golden Plover is classed as Scarce: broadly speaking, species that are covered in British Birds' annual review of scarce species (and forms of similar rarity).

W.Gerinish, Outer Hebrides 12/05/2010	Portavogie, Down 28/10/2009	Portavogie, Down 28/10/2009	Eden Estuary, Fife 16/10/2009	Eden Estuary, Fife 16/10/2009
Tiree, Argyll 01/10/2009	Tiree, Argyll 01/10/2009	Tiree, Argyll 01/10/2009	Inchydoney Bay, Cork 12/10/2009	Inchydoney Bay, Cork 12/10/2009

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	For rarity finders Pacific Golden Plovers are one of the birds to seek out during the late summer period. Find out more about their occurrence patterns and identification.

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