Semipalmated Plover
Semipalmated Plover: Small plover, gray-brown upperparts and white underparts. Forehead and faint eyebrows are white, while face and collar are black. Bill is orange with black tip. Wings have white stripes visible in flight. Tail is brown with white edges. Orange legs, feet. Strong direct flight.
● Song:
"chu-weet"
● Foraging & Feeding:
Semipalmated Plover: Eats insects, crustaceans, and mollusks; forages on mudflats or in shallow water, running and scanning for food in short bursts.
● Breeding & nesting:
Semipalmated Plover: Three to four buff to olive brown eggs marked with brown or black are laid in a ground depression. In sandy areas, nest is lined with shell fragments and pebbles; on tundra, it is lined with plants. Both parents incubate eggs for 23 to 25 days. Young fly at 23 to 31 days.
● Similar species:
Semipalmated Plover: Snowy and Piping Plovers have much paler upperparts, stubbier bills, white lores, broader wing stripes, and less complete breast bands. Wilson's Plover has a thicker bill, single broad black or gray-brown breast band, and flesh-colored legs.