Adults: Breeding: Upperparts, wing coverts, dark with gold speckling. Throat, breast, belly, black. Undertail coverts, always white. White line running from forehead, eyebrow along flanks to undertail, with golden speckling and fine black barring down the flanks. Underwing lining, white. A narrow white wing bar splits into white streaks on baes of inner prmaries. Bill, black. Legs, grey-black. When standing wing tips project beyond tail tip. Toes do not project beyond tail in flight. Non-breeding: Upperparts to tail dark, with golden buff to cream spots. An indistinct pale eyebrow. Breast, golden-brown to cream, cut-off sharply by unmarked white center of belly and undertail coverts.
Immatures: Similar to non-breeding adult, but duller with finer spanglings. Flanks, belly, finely fringed black giving a subtle scaly appearance.
Other Names (World)
Eurasian Golden Plover, Eurasian Golden-Plover, European Golden-Plover, Greater Golden-Plover, Black-breasted Plover, European Golden Plover
Albania (NB), Algeria, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan (NB), Bahrain, Belarus (B), Belgium (NB) (P), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria (NB), Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska), Cyprus (NB), Czech Republic (NB), Denmark (B) (NB) (P), Egypt, Estonia (B), Faroe Islands (B) (NB), Finland (B) (P), France (NB) (P), Germany (B) (NB) (P), Greece (NB) (P), Greenland (B), Hungary (NB), Iceland (B), Iran [Islamic Republic of], Ireland (B) (NB) (P), Israel, Italy (NB) (P), Kazakhstan, Latvia (B) (P), Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Lithuania (B) (P), Luxembourg, Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (NB), Malta (NB), Montenegro (NB), Morocco, Netherlands Antilles (NB), Norway (B) (P), Poland (B) (P), Portugal (NB), Romania (NB) (P), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B) (P), Russia (European) (B) (P), Sâo Tomé e Principe, Saudi Arabia, Serbia (NB), Slovakia (Slovak Republic) (NB), Slovenia (NB), Spain (NB), Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (B), Sweden (B) (P), Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey (NB), United Kingdom (B) (NB) (P).
Vagrant to Canada, Gambia, Ghana, India, Iraq (NB), Jordan, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Mauritania, Mongolia, Oman, Pakistan, Senegal, Sierra Leone, St Pierre and Miquelon (P), Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, USA, Western Sahara (NB), Yemen.
Scandinavia, Russia and Ireland migrating south in winter. Possible vagrant to Australia.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 640,000 - 1,200,000 (2010).
Status LC
Destruction of heathlands for cultivation and afforestation is the main threat. It is also susceptible to very cold winter temperatures and severe weather conditions.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Food
Terrestrial invertebrates and some berries and seeds.
European Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria) [XC861231]
by Ricardo Hevia from Ortegal (near Cari\u00f1o), A Coru\u00f1a, Galicia, Spain (nocturnal flight call)
European Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria) [XC871355]
by FREDERIC Lionel from Arrondissement d'Orl\u00e9ans (near Ch\u00e9cy), Loiret, Centre-Val de Loire, France (nocturnal flight call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. Breeds in northern Europe.
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Nest
A shallow scrape on tussocky ground, sparsely lined. Usually solitary but occasionally pairs may nest a few hundred meters apart.
Eggs (Guide)
4; slightly glossy, pale to deep buff or greenish-olive, with many blackish-brown spots and blotches; pyriform. Incubation: 27 - 28 days. Eggs are generally brighter than those of the Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus).
Subspecies
Validity of subspecific division regularly debated, due to considerable variation within local populations and no apparent differences in measurements. Birds of British Is to northern Germany formerly considered separate subspecies, oreophilos.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
apricaria (Linnaeus, 1758) - British Is, through western Germany, Denmark and southern Fenno-Scandia to Baltic states.
altifrons (C. L. Brehm, 1831) - Eastern-central Greenland, Iceland and Faeroes to northern Fenno-Scandia, and thence east to Taymyr Peninsula.
Similar Species
American Golden Plover (Pluvialis dominica)
Slightly smaller. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Lower breast, belly, flanks, white, the breastband does not show a cut-off with the lower breast. Underwings, dark grey.
Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva)
Slightly smaller. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Lower breast, belly, flanks, white, the breastband does not show a cut-off with the lower breast. Underwings, whitish.
Oriental Plover (Charadrius veredus)
Smaller. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Lacks mottling on upperparts and breast. Legs, yellowish or pinkish yellow.
Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
Larger. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Upperparts, brownish grey with white tips and edges to feathers. Eyebrow, indistinct. In flight, shows black axillaries.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet