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Pacific Golden-Plover | Pluvialis fulva
Aziatische goudplevier | Chorlito dorado siberiano
A slender, golden-yellow plover from Siberia that winters in small flocks on the coasts, saltmarshes and grass fields of Arabia. In the Gulf states and Oman it is a familiar winter visitor, scarce in the Levant and exceptional in Egypt and the Maghreb.
Voice
A quick, clear disyllabic chu-weet or tchoo-eet, the second syllable higher; more clearly two-noted than the call of European Golden-Plover.
Recording: Xiangrong Yan — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
Slimmer and longer-legged than European Golden-Plover, with a relatively large head and a slightly longer bill. Winter plumage: upperparts densely spotted golden-yellow, face and breast buff, with a clear pale supercilium behind the eye. The long tertials reach almost to the tail tip, so only two to three primary tips are visible. Breeding plumage: black underparts with a white band along neck and flanks continuing to the undertail, which is mottled black and white. In flight: grey-brown underwing with grey axillaries and a narrow, faint wing bar.
Confusion species
European Golden-Plover (Pluvialis apricaria) is stockier and shorter-legged, with white axillaries and a fainter supercilium; much rarer in Arabia. American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica) is greyer, with short tertials and a long primary projection; a very rare vagrant. Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola) is larger and grey, with black axillaries and a white rump.
Habitat
Tidal flats, sandy beaches, saltmarsh and sabkhas along the coast, but also short-mown grass: golf courses, parks, sports fields and irrigated fields. In the Emirates and Oman it often feeds on urban lawns; inland also at sewage ponds and irrigated farmland.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the habitats of North Africa and the Middle East.
Range and movements
Winter visitor along the Persian Gulf from Kuwait via Bahrain and Qatar to the Emirates, and in Oman (Batinah coast, Barr al Hikman, Masirah and Dhofar), where numbers are highest. Also along the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the Gulf of Aden and Socotra. On passage in Kuwait, eastern Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq. In Israel a scarce, almost annual migrant and winter visitor, mainly at Eilat and along the coast. Very rare in Egypt and North Africa. Breeds on the tundra from northern Siberia to western Alaska; winters from East Africa and Arabia through South and South-East Asia to Australia and the Pacific islands.
- Winter visitor (c. Apr–Sep)
- Passage (Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
In winter flocks are easy to see on the lawns and golf courses of Abu Dhabi and Dubai and on the plains of Barr al Hikman. In Salalah (Dhofar) and on Socotra they feed on beaches and sports fields. Birds in breeding plumage are seen in April, just before departure.
Conservation status
Not globally threatened. In the region it is losing intertidal habitat to land reclamation and coastal development in the Gulf, but it benefits from golf courses, parks and irrigated farmland.
Scientific name
Pluvialis fulva | (Gmelin, 1789)
Gmelin described the species in 1789 as Charadrius fulvus; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Pluvialis was introduced in 1760 by Brisson. Pluvialis is Latin for 'relating to rain', from pluvia 'rain', from the old belief that these plovers flocked when rain was imminent. fulva is Latin for 'tawny, yellowish-brown', after the golden spangling of the upperparts. The specimen the first description was based on came from Tahiti.