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Semipalmated Plover

Charadrius semipalmatusOrder: CHARADRIIFORMESFamily: Plovers (Charadriidae)

Semipalmated Plover Portrait
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General

Semipalmated Plover: Small plover with gray-brown upperparts and white underparts. Forehead and faint eyebrows are white, while face and collar are black. Bill is orange with black tip. Wings have white stripes visible in flight. Tail is brown with white edges. Legs and feet are orange. Sexes are similar. Winter adult is paler with distinct white eyebrows. Juvenile resembles winter adult but has yellow legs and feet.

Range and Habitat

Semipalmated Plover: Breeds on sandy or mossy tundra from Alaska to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Spends winters on mudflats, salt marshes, and lakeshores along coastal California and the Carolinas south.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"chu-weet"

Interesting Facts

  • The Semipalmated Plover is the most common plover seen on migration in most areas.
  • It has been seen swimming short distances across small water channels during foraging while on migration. Chicks also swim short distances to follow parents to small islets on shallow lakes.
  • The term "semipalmated" refers to its partly webbed feet.
  • A group of plovers has many collective nouns, including a "brace", "congregation", "deceit", "ponderance" and "wing" of plovers.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Semipalmated Plover
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
Species Charadrius semipalmatus
Length6.5 - 7.5 Inches
Wingspan14.6 Inches

Semipalmated Plover

Semipalmated Plover: Small plover, gray-brown upperparts and white underparts. Forehead and faint eyebrows are white, while face and collar are black. Bill is orange with black tip. Wings have white stripes visible in flight. Tail is brown with white edges. Orange legs, feet. Strong direct flight.

● Song: "chu-weet"

● Foraging & Feeding: Semipalmated Plover: Eats insects, crustaceans, and mollusks; forages on mudflats or in shallow water, running and scanning for food in short bursts.

● Breeding & nesting: Semipalmated Plover: Three to four buff to olive brown eggs marked with brown or black are laid in a ground depression. In sandy areas, nest is lined with shell fragments and pebbles; on tundra, it is lined with plants. Both parents incubate eggs for 23 to 25 days. Young fly at 23 to 31 days.

● Similar species: Semipalmated Plover: Snowy and Piping Plovers have much paler upperparts, stubbier bills, white lores, broader wing stripes, and less complete breast bands. Wilson's Plover has a thicker bill, single broad black or gray-brown breast band, and flesh-colored legs.

Flight Pattern

Rapidly beating wings., Strong direct flight.
Semipalmated Plover Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Semipalmated Plover: Breeds on sandy or mossy tundra from Alaska to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Spends winters on mudflats, salt marshes, and lakeshores along coastal California and the Carolinas south.
BreedingMonogamous, Loose colonies
Population
MigrationMigratory
Weight1.7 Ounces