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Pluvialis fulva (Pacific golden plover, Asiatic golden plover) 

Asiatiese goue strandkiewiet [Afrikaans]; Kleine goudplevier [Dutch]; Pluvier fauve [French]; Wanderregenpfeifer [German]; Tarambola-dourada-siberiana [Portuguese]

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Deuterostomia > Chordata > Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates)  > Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class: Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial vertebrates) > Tetrapoda (four-legged vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota > Reptilia (reptiles) > Romeriida > Diapsida > Archosauromorpha > Archosauria > Dinosauria (dinosaurs) > Saurischia > Theropoda (bipedal predatory dinosaurs) > Coelurosauria > Maniraptora > Aves (birds) > Order: Charadriiformes > Family: Charadriidae > Genus: Pluvialis

Pluvialis fulva (Pacific golden plover, Asiatic golden plover)  

Pacific golden plover, South Africa. [photo Neil Gray ©]

 

Distribution and habitat

Breeds in the Siberian tundra from the Yamal Peninsula to western Alaska, heading south in the non-breeding season to southern Asia, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Ocean islands, while it is a rare summer vagrant to Europe and southern Africa. Here it has been sighted at coastal central Namibia, south-western Zimbabwe and southern South Africa, generally more regularly recorded than the American golden plover. It generally prefers coastal sand or mud flats, reefs, lagoons, beaches and nearby open areas, such as dunes, ploughed fields and short grass fields.

Distribution of Pacific golden plover in southern Africa, based on statistical smoothing of the records from first SA Bird Atlas Project (© Animal Demography unit, University of Cape Town; smoothing by Birgit Erni and Francesca Little). Colours range from dark blue (most common) through to yellow (least common). See here for the latest distribution from the SABAP2.  

Food 

Forages by day and night, mainly using the typical run-stop-search technique of plovers.

References

  • Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG 2005. Roberts - Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.