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Pacific Golden-Plover

Pluvialis fulva

Least Concern (IUCN Red List)Plovers and Lapwings
Pacific Golden-Plover, photographed by JJ Harrison

Photo: JJ Harrison · Wikimedia · CC-BY-SA 4.0 (licence)

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Call and song

About the Pacific Golden-Plover

Slender plover spangled with gold. Breeding plumage shows black belly and face with mottled white sides and undertail coverts and a white stripe down the side of the neck that continues onto the sides of the chest and flanks. Nonbreeding plumage is duller grayish-brown overall with a variable golden wash, often quite bright. Juveniles are crisp and neatly spangled above, washed with gold on the upperparts. At all seasons, note more slender shape, slightly smaller bill, and brighter golden tones than Black-bellied Plover, along with grayish underwing in flight. Extremely similar to American Golden-Plover; Pacific is slightly shorter-winged, longer-legged, and larger-billed, but these features are difficult to judge. Juvenile Pacific is usually brighter than American, especially on the face and neck. Pacific found more regularly on beaches and mudflats than American, but much overlap; also note range. Breeds on Arctic tundra from Alaska to Russia. Winters extensively across Southeast Asia, the South Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand; small numbers found in fall on west coast of U.S. Note voice: a quick “pip” note followed by a rising “plooEEP!”, first note shorter and more clipped than Black-bellied. Also makes shorter, more plaintive calls similar to American but lower-pitched.

Species account: eBird.org, fetched 2025-12-26 · How these pages are made

Where it has been recorded

Recorded in 139 of the 253 countries we have eBird lists for. Each opens that country's checklist.

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