Pacific Golden Plover

Scientific Name: Pluvialis fulva

Description: The Pacific Golden Plover is a slender upright wading bird with a rounded head, slim neck, short fine bill, and long legs. When it first arrives in September, it may still have the stunning breeding plumage of bold black underparts and white stripe extending from the eyebrow to the shoulder, but this soon changes to the mottled golden brown of the non-breeding plumage.

At high tide, small groups roost among rocks and at low tide they feed on mudflats. By April, the breeding plumage starts to return before these birds depart on the long flight to the nesting sites in Siberia or Alaska. They feed on molluscs, insects, worms, crustaceans, small fish, lizards and occasionally birds’ eggs.

Type: Bird
Where to find: muddy, rocky, and sandy wetlands, shores, paddocks, saltmarsh, coastal golf courses, estuaries, and lagoons.
Size: 26cm