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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Pluvialis squatarola
Black-bellied Plover

 
Scientific Name: Pluvialis squatarola (Linnaeus, 1758)
English Name: Black-bellied Plover
 
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - Concept Reference: American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Classification Level: Species
Species Group: Vertebrate Animal
Species Code: B-BBPL
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Animalia Craniata Aves Charadriiformes Charadriidae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G5 (Apr 2016)
Provincial Status: S5N (Apr 2023)
BC List: Yellow
Provincial FRPA list:   
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status:
SARA Schedule:
General Status Canada: 3 - Sensitive (2005)
Migratory Bird Convention Act: Y
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description:
Global Reproduction Comments: Breeding begins late May in southwest to late June in north (Harrison 1978). Both sexes usually incubate 4 eggs for 26-27 days. Nestlings precocial. Young tended by both parents; parent depart before fledging at about 23 days.
Global Ecology Comments: Usually seen alone or in small flocks. May form large flocks to loaf or sleep (Stiles and Skutch 1989). Nesting density in Nunavut varied from 0.3 to 1.0 pairs per square kilometer on Devon Island (Hussell and Page 1976), to 1.2 to 2.3 pairs per square kilometer on Jenny Lind Island (Parmelee et al. 1967).
Migration Characteristics:
(Global / Provincial)		 
    Nonmigrant:
    Local Migrant:
    Distant Migrant:
    Within Borders Migrant: 		N /
N /
Y /
na /
Global Migration Comments: In U.S. migrates along Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the Mississippi River valley; more common in spring along inland routes in Canada. Migrates northward to arctic breeding grounds from s. U.S. in April; most arrive in Beaufort Sea area in early June, adults depart northern breeding areas around mid-August, young remain until late August or early September. Migrates through Costa Rica August-October and March-May (Stiles and Skutch 1989).
Habitats:
(Type / Subtype / Dependence)
Global Habitat Comments: BREEDING: Preferred nesting habitat is wet tundra adjacent to dry or stony ground; selects nest sites in light-colored moss and lichens (Johnson and Herter 1989). NON-BREEDING: mudflats, beaches, salinas, wet savanna, shores of ponds and lakes, wet meadows, flooded fields; sometimes mangroves or rocky shores (Stiles and Skutch 1989).
Food Habits: Invertivore: Adult, Immature
Global Food Habits Comments: In tidal sand and mud flats and in salt marshes feeds on: marine worms, insects, mollusks, crustaceans. In plowed fields, wet meadows and pastures searches for adult insects and larvae, earthworms, some seeds and berries (Terres 1980).
Global Phenology: Diurnal: Adult, Immature
Global Phenology Comments: Foraged principally during daylight in northeastern Venezuela (Robert et al. 1989).
Provincial Phenology:
(1st half of month/
2nd half of month)
Colonial Breeder: N
Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): 29/ / 220
Elevation (m) (min / max): Global: 
Provincial: 
   
 
Distribution
Endemic: N
Global Range Comment: BREEDING: northern and western Alaska, northern Canada (north to Melville, Bathurst, and Devon islands, east to Southhampton and western Baffin islands, west to arctic shore); northern Eurasia (AOU 1983). NON-BREEDING: southwestern British Columbia south along Pacific coast to Chile; Atlantic coast from New Jersey south to northern Argentina; important wintering areas in South America are Suriname and north-central coast of Brazil between Belem and Sao Luis (see Johnson and Herter 1989, Morrison and Ross 1989; see latter for details on other South American sites); West Indies; British Isles, Mediterranean region, southern China, and Hawaii (uncommon, irregular) south to southern Africa, Australia, New Zealand (AOU 1983). Nonbreeders frequently summer in winter range (AOU 1983).
 
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author: HAMMERSON, G.
Last Updated: Feb 15, 1990
Provincial Information Author:
Last Updated:
   
References and Related Literature
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, et al. 1990b. The Birds of British Columbia Vol. 2: Nonpasserines: Diurnal Birds of Prey through Woodpeckers. Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, BC.
Godfrey, W.E. 1966. The birds of Canada. National Museums of Canada. Ottawa. 428 pp.
Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
Hussell, D. J. T., and G. W. Page. 1976. Observations on the breeding biology of black-bellied plovers on Devon Island, N.W.T., Canada. Wilson Bulletin 88:632-653.
Johnson, S. R. and D. R. Herter. 1989. The Birds of the Beaufort Sea. BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Anchorage, Alaska. 372 pp.
Morrison, R. I. G., and R. K. Ross. 1989. Atlas of Nearctic shorebirds on the coast of South America. Vols. 1 and 2. Canadian Wildl. Serv. Spec. Publ. 325 pp.
Morrison, R. I. G., R. E. Gill, Jr., B. A. Harrington, S. Skagen, G. W. Page, C. L. Gratto-Trevor, and S. M. Haig. 2001. Estimates of shorebird populations in North America. Occasional Paper Number 104, Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, Ottawa, ON. 64 pages.
Parmelee, D. F., H. A. Stephens, and R. H. Schmidt. 1967. The birds of southeastern Victoria Island and adjacent small islands. National Museum of Canada, Ottawa. Bulletin No. 222. 229pp.
Robert, M., R. McNeil, and A. Leduc. 1989. Conditions and significance of night feeding in shorebirds and other water birds in a tropical lagoon. Auk 106:94-101.
Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp.
Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
 

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1990. Species Summary: Pluvialis squatarola. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Sep 29, 2026).