Pacific Golden Plover

Pluvialis fulvb

Beak

—

Feet

—

Crest

No crest

Widespread winter visitor. in all plumages, told from Grey Plover by golden - yellow mar1cings on upperparts. dusky grey underwing - coverts and axillaries. dark rump. and finer white wing-bar. is a lso slimmer-bodied, with longer neck and small bulbous head, and bill is finer. Legs appear longer lowing to proportionately longer tibia). Adult breading has black on face. foreneck, breast and belly which is strikingly bordered by white. Adult non-breeding and juvenile have yellowish-buff wash to supercilium, cheeks and neck; usually show pronounced supercilium which often curves down as diffuse crescent behind ear-coverts, and also a dark patch on rear ear-coverts. Very wary and if disturbed groups rise almost simultaneously in a compact flock, twisting and turning rapidly in unison. Mud banks of wetlands, ploughed fields and grassland