Large. Conspicuous black axillaries in flight. Sexes alike.
Adults: Breeding: Line from forehead, over eye and down neck to side of breast, white. Top of head, greyish with some black. Back, wing coverts, black and broadly edged with white. Rump, white. Tail, white, barred black. Flight feathers blackish with white bases forming a wing bar, visible in flight. Eye, dark brown. Face, including around eye, throat, breast, upper belly, axillaries, black. Lower belly, undertail coverts, white. Underwing, white (axillaries, black). Bill, black. Legs, black. Non-breeding: Eyebrow, white and indistinct. Ear spot, brownish-grey. Upperparts, brownish-grey with white tips and edges to feathers. Face, breast, white mottled or finely streaked with brownish-grey. Throat, belly, undertail, underwing, white. Axillaries, black. Bill, black. Legs, black.
Immatures: Similar to non-breeding adult but has brownish streaking on breast and flanks.
Regular summer migrant (August - April). Some young birds overwinter.
Habitat
Coastal, usually marine shores of estuaries or lagoons, on broad open mudflats, sand bars, beaches, reef flats or rocky coasts, and inland near the margins of salt lakes and swamps.
Afghanistan (P), Albania (NB), Algeria, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan (NB), Bahamas, Bahrain (P), Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium (NB), Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria (NB), Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada (B) (NB) (P), Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Chile, China (mainland) (NB), Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Costa Rica, Côte dIvoire, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (NB) (P), Cuba, Cyprus (NB) (P), Czech Republic (NB), Denmark (NB) (P), Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia (P), Ethiopia, Finland (P), France (NB) (P), French Guiana, Gabon, Gambia, Germany (NB) (P), Ghana, Greece (NB) (P), Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam (NB), Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong (China) (NB), Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran [Islamic Republic of] (P), Iraq (P), Ireland (NB), Israel, Italy (NB), Jamaica (NB), Japan, Jordan (P), Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan (P), Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (NB), Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands (NB), Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia [Federated States of] (NB), Mongolia, Montenegro (NB), Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands (NB), Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Korea, Northern Mariana Islands (NB), Norway (P), Oman (NB) (P), Pakistan, Palau (NB), Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland (P), Portugal (NB), Puerto Rico, Qatar, Réunion, Romania (NB) (P), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B), Russia (European) (B) (P), Saudi Arabia (NB) (P), Senegal, Serbia (NB), Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia (Slovak Republic), Slovenia (NB), Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain (NB) (P), Sri Lanka, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Pierre and Miquelon (P), St Vincent and The Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden (P), Switzerland, Taiwan (China), Tajikistan, Tanzania [United Republic of], Thailand, Timor-Leste (NB) (P), Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia (NB), Turkey (NB), Turks and Caicos Islands (NB), Uganda, Ukraine (NB) (P), United Arab Emirates (NB) (P), United Kingdom (NB) (P), Uruguay (NB), USA (B), Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands (British) (NB), Virgin Islands (U.S.) (NB), Western Sahara, Yemen, Zimbabwe.
Vagrant to Botswana, Burundi, Chad, Christmas Island, Cook Islands, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Greenland, Iceland, Laos, Lesotho, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Nauru, Niger, Rwanda, Sâo Tomé e Principe, St Helena, Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands, Swaziland, Syrian Arab Republic, Zambia.
Arctic Russia, from Kanin Peninsula to Chukotskiy Peninsula and Anadyrskaya; Alaska east to Melville Peninsula and Baffin I. Winters on coasts of North and South America, western Europe, Africa, southern Asia, Indonesia and Australia.
Breeds in the high Arctic, occurs on all coasts of Australia, but common on the west and south coasts, abundant in the Kimberely region, and scarce in Tasmania. Common summer resident (August - April).
Food
Terrestrial invertebrates. Also small mollucs, crabs and worms.
Voice
Loud, triple-note whistle, plaintive, undulating 'whee-oo-eeir, whie-oo-eeir' in flight. A whistling 'pleeoo-wee'. Usually silent in flocks. Often silent even when flushed.
Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola) [XC698763]
by Irish Wildlife Sounds from La Faute-sur-Mer, Vend\u00e9e, Pays de la Loire, France (call)
Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola) [XC534871]
by Krzysztof Deoniziak from La Faute-sur-Mer, Vend\u00e9e, Pays de la Loire, France (call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. Breeds in northern Russia, and North America.
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Nest
A shallow depression in the ground, lined with dry leaves and lichen and small stones.
Eggs (Guide)
4; smooth, grey-brown to light brown, well marked, particularly at the larger end, with blotches and spots of dark brown or black; pyriform; about 52 x 36 mm.
Subspecies
Sometimes placed in monospecific genus Squatarola.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
squatarola (Linnaeus, 1758) - Holarctic; almost cosmopolitan post-breeding dispersal.
tomkovichi Engelmoer & Roselaar, 1998 - Wrangel I. (north-eastern Siberia).
Similar Species
Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva)
Slightly smaller. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Lacks a white rump. Lacks black axillaries. Lacks golden buff to cream spots on upperparts. Underwing, dark grey.
American Golden Plover (Pluvialis dominica)
Slightly smaller. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Lacks a white rump. Lacks black axillaries. Lacks buff-grey to cream spots on upperparts. Underwing, pale grey. When standing wing tips project beyond tail.
Eurasian Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria)
Smaller. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Lacks a white rump. Lacks black axillaries. Upperparts to tail dark, with golden buff to cream spots. Belly, flanks, white, the breastband shows a cut-off with the lower breast. Eyebrow, pale, indistinct, with dark ear spot. Underwing, pure white.
Oriental Plover (Charadrius veredus)
Smaller. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Lacks mottling on upperparts and breast. Legs, yellowish or pinkish yellow.
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
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet