Wilson's Plover Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  A sturdy, medium-sized shorebird with a heavy bill for a plover. It has fairly long legs, large eyes, and a rather large head.

  Relative Size

  Larger than a Semipalmated Plover, smaller than a Killdeer.

  between sparrow and robin

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 6.3-7.9 in (16-20 cm)
    • Weight: 1.9-2.5 oz (55-70 g)

  © Ian Davies / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Breeding adults are medium brown above, white below, with a single breast band that is blackish (males) or brownish (females). Above this is a white partial collar, and a white stripe over the eye that extends to the bill. Some males show a little cinnamon color in the rear of the face. Nonbreeding males are more like females, as the black in the plumage is replaced by brown. Juveniles are similar to nonbreeding adults but are paler and more scaly looking.

• Behavior

  Wilson’s Plovers hunt mainly fiddler crabs both day and night. They watch for prey and then running after them and lunge, extracting the prey with the strong bill. They often shake crabs to remove the legs. They may forage in loose flocks composed of several families.
• Habitat

  Nests on sandy, shelly, or gravelly beaches above high tide line. Forages largely on mudflats, where fiddler crabs are the chief prey, and occasionally in sandy habitats, impoundments, and salt flats.