The Eurasian Golden Plover, Pluvialis apricaria, is a largish plover.

Taxonomy:

Class: Aves

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Charadriidae

Genus: Pluvialis

Species: P. apricaria

Binomial name Pluvialis apricaria (Linnaeus, 1758)

Subspecies: Pluvialis apricaria altifrons

Pluvialis apricaria apricaria

Physical Characteristics:

This species is similar to two other golden plovers. American Golden Plover, Pluvialis dominiica, and Pacific Golden Plover, Pluvialis fulva, are both smaller, slimmer and relatively longer-legged than Eurasian Golden Plover, and both have grey rather than white axillary feathers (only properly visible in flight). Breeding adults are spotted gold and black on the crown, back and wings. Their face and neck are black with a white border; they have a black breast and a dark rump. The legs are black. In winter, the black is lost and the plover then has a yellowish face and breast and white underparts.

The small head, short bill, plump, rounded body and run-stop-and-peck feeding manner identifies these birds as plovers. In all plumages they are smaller and browner than Grey Plovers. In summer their backs are beautifully spangled with golden markings and they have a variable amount of black in their head, throat and belly. In flight they look uniformly dull brown above with just a trace of a pale wing bar. The underwing is white. Birds from the north of the breeding range tend to show more black on their head and underparts.

Habitat:

Their breeding habitat is moorland and tundra in northernmost parts of Europe and western Asia. They nest on the ground in a dry open area. They are migratory and winter in southern Europe and north Africa. Around 500,000 birds winter in Ireland and Great Britain. Although generally common, its range has contracted somewhat in the past due to habitat destruction. For example, in the 19th century it disappeared as a breeding bird in Poland and only occurs there as a migrant nowadays; its breding population in Central Europe apparently was a relict of the last ice age (Tomek & Bocheński 2005).

Diet:

These birds forage for food on tundra, fields, beaches and tidal flats, usually by sight, although they will also feed by moonlight. They eat insects and crustaceans, also berries.