Black-bellied Plover

Black-bellied Plover, adult, breeding plumage

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Black-bellied Plover, adult, nonbreeding plumage

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

A large shorebird of coastal beaches, the Black-bellied Plover is striking in its black-and-white breeding plumage. It is the largest plover in North America and can be found along the coasts in winter northward to Massachusetts and British Columbia.

Description

• Medium-sized to large shorebird.
• Legs moderately long.
• Neck short.
• Bill short.
• Head large and rounded.
• Gray and black on back.
• In breeding plumage, black from face to belly.
• Rump white.
• Large black spot in armpits.

• Size: 28-29 cm (11-11 in)
• Wingspan: 59-60 cm (23-24 in)
• Weight: 160-277 g (5.65-9.78 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes similar, but female in breeding plumage less colorful than male, with brownish instead of black on back and varying amounts of white in face and breast. Female has less contrasting tail pattern with more, broader, and browner bars.

Sound

Call a high slurred whistle, "pee-o-wee." Territorial song a three-syllabled whistle, "kood-i-loo."

Conservation Status

Populations appear stable.

Other Names

Pluvier argenté (French)
Chorlito gris (Spanish)
Grey Plover (British) (English)

Cool Facts

• Wary and quick to give alarm calls, the Black-bellied Plover functions worldwide as a sentinel for mixed groups of shorebirds. These qualities allowed it to resist market hunters, and it remained common when populations of other species of similar size were devastated.
• The Black-bellied Plover may be more sensitive to disturbance than many other birds because it is especially wary, flushing from the nest or feeding and roosing sites when potential predators are still far away. Nevertheless, no evidence exists for desertion of the nest or roost sites because of disturbance.

• The Black-bellied Plover is the only American plover that has a hind toe on its foot. The hind toe, however, is so small that it is difficult to see in the field.

Sources used to construct this page:

Paulson, D. R. 1995. Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola). In The Birds of North America, No. 186 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists? Union, Washington, D.C.