Non-breeding adult. Photo: Lorraine Minns/Audubon Photography Awards
Charadrius melodus
| Conservation status | Threatened or endangered. Almost gone from Great Lakes as a breeder, and has declined elsewhere. Increased human activity on beaches affects Great Lakes and Atlantic Coast birds. Irregular water releases from dams often flood out nesting attempts on rivers in the interior. |
|---|---|
| Family | Plovers |
| Habitat | Sandy beaches, tidal flats. Nests in open sandy situations near water, in a variety of settings: beaches along Atlantic Coast and Great Lakes; sandbars along major rivers on northern Great Plains; gravel or sand flats next to alkali lakes. Winters along coast, on tidal flats and beaches. |
Typically they run a few steps and then pause, then run again, pecking at the ground whenever they spot something edible. Will sometimes hold one foot forward and shuffle it rapidly over the surface of sand or mud, as if to startle small creatures into moving.
4, sometimes 2-3, rarely 5. Pale buff, blotched with black and dark brown. Incubation is by both sexes, averages 26-28 days. Young: Downy young may leave nest a few hours after hatching. Young feed themselves. Both parents brood young during cool weather at first, but female often deserts them within a few days, leaving male to care for young. Development of young not well known; able to fly at 21-35 days.
Downy young may leave nest a few hours after hatching. Young feed themselves. Both parents brood young during cool weather at first, but female often deserts them within a few days, leaving male to care for young. Development of young not well known; able to fly at 21-35 days.
Includes insects, marine worms, crustaceans. Diet not well known. On coast, feeds on marine worms, small crustaceans, insects, other marine invertebrates. Inland, feeds mostly on insects, including small beetles, water boatmen, shore flies, midges, and many others.
Males perform display flights over breeding territory, with slow wingbeats and piping callnote. On the ground, male approaches female, stands upright with neck stretched, and rapidly stamps feet with odd high-stepping gait. Nest site is on open ground some distance away from water, often with large rock or clump of grass nearby, but no direct shelter or shade. May nest very close to breeding colonies of terns. Nest is shallow scrape in sand, sometimes lined with tiny shells and pebbles.
Audubon’s scientists have used 140 million bird observations and sophisticated climate models to project how climate change will affect this bird’s range in the future.
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The Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act calls for urgent action on the issues facing our ocean and coasts.
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