Northern Lapwing

Scientific Name: Vanellus vanellus

Population Estimate: 4.2M - 10M

Range / Habitat: Breeds through temperate Eurasia on cultivated land. It is highly migratory over most of its extensive range, wintering further south as far as north Africa, northern India, Pakistan, and parts of China. 

Field Notes: Unmistakable in range. Typical lapwing habitus, iridescent blue and grey above, white below, black head plume

Personal Notes: Seen at Donana National Park, Spain. This is THE BEST PICTURE EVER!

Kentish Plover

Scientific Name: Charadrius alexandrinus

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Breeds on sandy coasts and brackish inland lakes, and is uncommon on fresh water. Breeds widely across southern Europe and Asia. Winters in Africa and southeast Asia.

Field Notes: Smaller, paler, longer-legged and thinner-billed than Ringed Plover or Semipalmated Plover. Its breast band is never complete, and usually just appears as dark lateral patches on the sides of the breast. Upperparts are greyish brown and the underparts white in all plumages. The breast markings are black in summer adults, otherwise brown. Breeding males of some races have a black forehead bar and a black mask through the eye. The legs are black.

Personal Notes: Seen at Donana National Park, Spain. Some sources consider this conspecific with Snowy Plover.

Little Ringed Plover

Scientific Name: Charadrius dubius

Population Estimate: 280K - 530K

Range / Habitat: Migratory birds who breed on open gravel areas near freshwater throughout Europe and western Asia. They winter in Africa and southeast Asia.

Field Notes: Small plover with 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 with white above and a short dark bill. In contrast to the larger Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover has flesh-colored legs and a distinct yellow eye-ring.

Personal Notes: Seen at Donana National Park, Spain.

Red-capped Plover

Scientific Name: Charadrius ruficapillus

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Marine intertidal areas throughout Australia, including Tasmania, parts of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea.

Field Notes: Small plover with rufous cap, extending down back of neck, and around to an incomplete breast band. White forehead. Juvenile and non-breeding forms with rufous cap grey-brown instead. Kentish Plover similar but non-overlapping.

Personal Notes: A lucky find at Mallacoota Beach, when we were really just looking for the path to the nearby Croajingolong National Park in Victoria, Australia.

New Zealand Plover

Scientific Name: Charadrius obscurus

Population Estimate: 2K, Endangered status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand were found on beaches, estuaries and in river mouths of northern North Island. Also a population which breeds on mountain tops of Stewart Island and then moves to estuaries of Stewart Island, Southland and Farewell Spit.

Field Notes: Squat plover with robust bill. Back is brown-grey with whitish feather edges. In breeding plumage underparts can be pale orange to rich rufous. Non-breeding adults (as above) are distinctly pale, all white underparts and only grey shoulder patches, no complete breast band. Non-breeding Double-banded Plover lacks white cheeks and still has remnant of both breast bands.

Personal Notes: Seen at Miranda Shorebird Center, near Auckland. In New Zealand known as New Zealand Dotterel. Maori name Tuturiwhatu.

Wrybill

Scientific Name: Anarhynchus frontalis

Population Estimate: 4.5K - 5K, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand, where it breeds in the braided river beds of Canterbury and Otago. Then migrates to estuaries of of the North Island, especially Firth of Thames, Manukau and Kaipara.

Field Notes: Small, stocky, pale very wader with short neck and black bill with tip curved to the right. Breeding adults with black neck band. Underparts white, legs grey.

Personal Notes: Seen at Miranda Shorebird Center, outside Auckland.

Double-banded Plover

Scientific Name: Charadrius bicinctus

Population Estimate: 51K

Range / Habitat: Breeds in inland wetlands of New Zealand. Non-breeding birds form flocks and some migrate to Australia, Fiji.

Field Notes: Medium-sized plover. Breeding plumage as above with black neck band and broad, chestnut chest band (male bands darker than females). Non-breeding adults highly variable, losing facial markings and portions of bands. Non-breeding New Zealand Plover similar but no remnant bands across chest and having white cheeks.

Personal Notes: Seen at Onoke Spit. In New Zealand known as Banded Dotterel. Maori name Tuturiwhatu.

Black-fronted Dotterel

Scientific Name: Elseyornis melanops

Population Estimate: 17K

Range / Habitat: Inland wetlands in Australia and New Zealand, where it self-introduced in the 1950s. Uncommon in saline estuaries or mudflats.

Field Notes: Typical plover habitus with black eye band and neck ring which connect. Sexes similar and they retain the same plumage all year. Shore Plover similar but with extensive black mask, no neck ring. Ringed Plover similar, and a rare vagrant in this area, but eye band and neck ring do not connect. 

Personal Notes: Seen outside of Napier.

Black-shouldered Lapwing

Scientific Name: Vanellus novaehollandiae

Range / Habitat: Freshwater wetlands, fields, urban green spaces in southern Australia and New Zealand.

Field Notes: Large plover with distinct head coloration and yellow mask.

Personal Notes: Also known as Masked Plover and Spur-winged Plover. Some sources consider same species as Masked Lapwing. 

American Golden Plover

Scientific Name: Pluvialis dominica

Population Estimate: 200K

Range / Habitat: Breeds in the Arctic tundra of North America. Migrates to central and southern South America for winter, where it prefers grasslands. Seen on marine intertidal flats on migration. Frequent vagrant to Western Europe.

Field Notes: Breeding plumage distinctive. Basic plumage as above. Pacific Golden Plover very similar in basic plumage but not in the area of the above photo. Grey Plover (also known as Black-bellied Plover) similar but wings do not project beyond tail. Eurasian Golden Plover a frequent vagrant but has a most distinct breast band, shorter wings, and shorter bill.

Personal Notes:

Southern Lapwing

Scientific Name: Vanellus Chilensis

Population Estimate: 2M

Range / Habitat: It is a common and widespread resident throughout South America, except in densely forested regions (e.g. most of the Amazon), the higher parts of the Andes and the arid coast of a large part of western South America. This bird is particularly common in the basin of the River Plate. It has also been spreading through Central America in recent years.

Field Notes: The Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis) is a wader in the family Charadriiformes.The upperparts are mainly brownish grey, with a bronze glossing on the shoulders. The head is particularly striking; mainly grey with a black forehead and throat patch extending onto the black breast. A white border separates the black of the face from the grey of the head and crest. The rest of the underparts are white, and the eye ring, legs and most of the bill are pink.

Personal Notes: Seen at Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Semipalmated Plover

Scientific Name: Charadrius Semipalmatus

Population Estimate: 150K

Range / Habitat: Their breeding habitat is open ground on beaches or flats across northern Canada and Alaska. Winters along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the US. Can be seen in migration throughout most of the US.

Field Notes: Small shorebird with dark brown back and white belly. Distinctive single black band across the chest. 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.

Personal Notes: 

Grey Plover

Scientific Name: Pluvialis squatarola

Population Estimate: 360K, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Breeds in circumpolar Arctic tundra. Winters in coastal areas throughout the rest of the world. 

Field notes: Breeding adults unmistakable as in the top photo. Spotted black and white on the back and wings. The face and neck are black with a white border; they have a black breast and a white rump. The tail is white with black barring. The bill and legs are black. Winter plumage a fairly plain grey above, with a grey-speckled breast and white belly as in the bottom photo. The smaller American Golden Plover and Pacific Golden Plover lack white rumps, white wing stripes, and black armpits in all plumages. 

Personal Notes: Also known as the Black-bellied Plover.

Killdeer

Scientific Name: Charadrius vociferus

Population Estimate: 1M, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Found year-round on open ground with low to no vegetation throughout most of the US and into Mexico. Extends to Central America in the winter and up north into Canada in the summer. 

Field Notes: A shorebird usually found away from the shore. Typical plover with large eye and short bill. Killdeer is the only plover in the US with two black breast bands. 

Personal Notes: Such striking birds, no matter where we find them…. 

Common Ringed Plover

Scientific Name: Charadrius hiaticula

Population Estimate: 360K - 1.3M

Range / Habitat: Generally migratory, breeding on beaches or flats across northern Eurasia and northeast Canada. Winter in coastal areas south to Africa.

Field Notes: Small plover with grey-brown back and wings, white belly, and white breast with one black neckband. Brown cap, a white forehead, a black mask around the eyes and a short orange and black bill. Legs are orange. Little Ringed Plover with yellow eye-ring and flesh-colored legs.
 

Personal Notes:

Eurasian Golden Plover

Scientific Name: Pluvialis apricaria

Population Estimate: 640K - 1.2M

Range / Habitat: Breeds in tundra in the northernmost parts of Europe and western Asia. Winter in southern Europe and north Africa.

Field Notes: Breeding adults are spotted gold and black on the crown, back and wings. Their face and neck are black with a white border; they have a black breast and a dark rump. The legs are black. In winter, the black is lost and the plover then has a yellowish face and breast and white underparts. Unique, repetitive call.

Personal Notes: First seen at Skaftafell National Park, Iceland. Later photographed in Snaefellsjokull National Park.