Bird of the Week 8/17 - 8/21

This week’s bird is the: American Golden-Plover

1. The American Golden-Plover is a remarkable long-distance migrant. In the winter, the species occupies coastlines and rivers in Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. In the summer, the species migrates all the way up to the Arctic.

2. The distance between these two areas is roughly 8,500 miles (or ~14,000 km), a remarkable distance for a 10-inch long bird. Put in another way, this bird migrates 54 million times its body length TWICE each year. 54 million body-lengths for us humans would be about two times around the world at the equator.

3. And those numbers are likely an underestimate. This bird doesn’t take the shortest route. Rather, it follows an elliptical migration path throughout the year, passing up over the Pacific Ocean, then up through Central America, and through the American Midwest during spring migration. During the fall, individuals fly over the Atlantic before heading down to the bottom of South America.

4. Why do these plovers subject themselves to such wild migrations each year? Breeding at high latitudes can have its perks, potentially including less predators, longer days, and a temporary hyper-abundance of resources.

5. Whatever the cause, this species has evolved to migrate this far because this strategy works, which is pretty remarkable. And this strategy seems to be working out alright – the American Golden Plover is currently listed as a species of “least concern.”

P.S., you probably have this species or a related plover near you. This bird’s closest relatives are the Black-bellied Plover, Pacific Golden-Plover, and the European Golden-Plover. All make pretty spectacular migrations.