American Golden Plover

[fishinchicks]

Today I encountered a small flock of birds I had never seen before. As near as I can tell, they are American Golden Plovers. There were 16 of them in the field I was digging in today.

Are they making a comeback, have they always been around and I just haven't noticed? They were really fun to watch - they never flew away, just walked to keep their distance from the tractor.

[Dotch]

I used to run across them when I was a lad working the fields in the spring. No cab and small equipment so you could get really close to them. Some years will see some when spring soil sampling too. What's always impressed me is the synchronicity of the flock when they fly.

Not sure of their status presently, just always assumed they were on their way through. They are occasional visitors to our wetland but don't stay.

[ShawnZ]

Great find. They are not rare, and are more common in the western areas of the state during their spring migration. Their breeding plumage is soooo beautiful. Living in Duluth, I see them more frequently in the fall, and many of those are juvenile birds that have a more widely dispersed migratory path. From what I have read, the species used to be far more numerous. They were slaughtered wholesale during the market gunner days. They could be killed by the thousands on a single day, because apparently, the birds that were not initially shot would continually fly back over the dead birds until they themselves were shot. I'm sure Audobon ate a few American Golden Plovers during his time...