Semipalmated Plover

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Semipalmated Plover

In breeding plumage, Northern Canada

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Subclass:	Neornithes
Infraclass:	Neognathae
Superorder:	Neoaves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Charadriidae
Genus:	Charadrius
Species:	C. semipalmatus

Binomial name

Charadrius semipalmatus
(Bonaparte, 1825)

Synonyms

Charadrius hiaticula semipalmatus

Semipalmated Plover in nonbreeding plumage.

The Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) is a small plover.

Adults have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with one black neckband. They have a brown cap, a white forehead, a black mask around the eyes and a short orange and black bill.

Their breeding habitat is open ground on beaches or flats across northern Canada and Alaska. They nest on the ground in an open area with little or no plant growth.

They are migratory and winter in coastal areas ranging from the United States to Patagonia. They are extremely rare vagrants to western Europe, although their true status may be obscured by the difficulty in identifying them from the very similar Ringed Plover of Eurasia, of which it was formerly considered a subspecies.

These birds forage for food on beaches, tidal flats and fields, usually by sight. They eat insects, crustaceans and worms.

This bird resembles the Killdeer but is much smaller and has only one band. The term "semipalmated" refers to its partly webbed feet.

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2004). Charadrius semipalmatus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern