Measurements
Both Sexes
- Length
- 6.7–7.5 in
17–19 cm - Weight
- 1.7 oz
47 g
Other Names
- Pluvier semipalmé (French)
- Chorlito semipalmeado, Cholo semipalmado (Spanish)
Cool Facts
- The Semipalmated Plover has been seen to swim short distances across small water channels during foraging while on migration. Chicks also swim short distances to follow parents to small islets on shallow lakes
Habitat
Shore-line
Food
Insects
Nesting
Nest Placement
Ground
Behavior
Ground Forager
Searches for prey visually. Runs several steps, stops, stares, and then pecks or quickly snatches at prey.
Conservation
Least Concern
The Semipalmated Plover is among the few plovers whose numbers are apparently increasing, perhaps owing to its versatility in food and habitat choice, its wide-spread coastal winter distribution, or its habitat expansion in the sub-Arctic as a result of disturbance by both humans and arctic geese.
Credits
- Nol, E., and M. S. Blanken. 1999. Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus). In The Birds of North America, No. 444 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.