Piping Plover

Piping Plover, male, breeding plumage (worn)

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Piping Plover, female; June, Martha's Vineyard, MA

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Conservation Status
10. Other Names

A small pale shorebird of open sandy beaches and alkali flats, the Piping Plover is found along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, as well as inland in the northern Great Plains. Because of disturbance by people, all populations are considered endangered or threatened.

Cool Facts

• Intruders near a Piping Plover nest are chased and may be pecked or bitten. In Manitoba, one Killdeer was observed entering a Piping Plover territory where it was bitten so hard on the leg that it limped for the rest of the summer.

Description

• Size: 17-18 cm (7-7 in)
• Weight: 43-63 g (1.52-2.22 ounces)

• Small shorebird.
• Legs moderately long.
• Neck short.
• Back pale tan.
• Underparts white with one black or brown band on chest, often broken in middle.
• Legs yellow.

• White band across top of tail in flight.
• Black tip to tail.

Breeding (Alternate) Plumage: Black neck band and mark on forehead. Bill with orange base.
Nonbreeding (Basic) Plumage: Breastband pale, same color as back, no black forehead mark, and bill black.

Sex Differences

Sexes similar, but male slightly larger and with brighter orange base to bill when breeding.

Immature

Similar to nonbreeding adult.

Similar Species

• Snowy Plover has a thin dark bill, a less rounded, "less cute" profile, dark legs, a thinner chestband, and has a dark cheek during breeding.
• Semipalmated Plover has a dark back, a thicker, more complete chestband, and has dark face patch.
• Wilson's Plover is larger, darker on the back, has a thick, complete chestband, and a large, thick bill.
• Killdeer is larger, darker-backed, and has two distinct chest bands.

Sound

Clear whistled peeps.

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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Summer Range

Breeds in the northern Great Plains from Alberta to Oklahoma, along the northern Great Lakes, and along the Atlantic Coast from Newfoundland to North Carolina.

Winter Range

Winters along Atlantic and Gulf coasts from North Carolina to the Yucatan Peninsula, and on northern coast of Gulf of California.

Habitat

Open sandy beaches, especially above tideline, and alkalai flats.

Food

Insects and small aquatic invertebrates.

Behavior

Foraging

Searches for prey visually. Runs rapidly, stops, and then pecks or quickly snatches at prey.

Conservation Status

Listed as endangered in Canada and the inland United States, threatened along coast. Declines resulted from direct and unintentional harassment by people, dogs, and vehicles, destruction of beach habitat for development, and changes in water level regulation.

Other Names

Pluvier siffleur (French)
Chorlitejo picocorto (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Haig, S. M. 1992. Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus). In The Birds of North America, No.2 (A. Poole, P.Stettenheim, and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia:The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: The American Ornithologists' Union.