Pacific Golden-Plover

Pacific Golden-Plovers are opportunistic omnivores, though insects form the backbone of the diet across most of the year. The foraging method is the classic plover run-stop-peck: a short sprint, a pause to scan, then a rapid strike to seize prey from the ground surface. Larger items are dismembered by pecking before being swallowed.

On Arctic breeding grounds, the diet centres on beetles, flies, mosquitoes, and crane fly larvae. Berries — crowberries and blueberries — become critically important in late summer, providing the carbohydrates needed to build fat reserves before the southward migration. Leaves and seeds supplement the diet when invertebrates are scarce.

On wintering grounds, the menu expands considerably. In Hawaii, primary prey includes cockroaches, moths, caterpillars, earwigs, earthworms, and millipedes. Across the wider wintering range, birds take grasshoppers, cutworms, wireworms, bees, wasps, ants, spiders, centipedes, slugs, snails, small crustaceans, marine worms, and brine shrimp. Coastal birds exploit mudflats and estuaries for bristleworms and small crabs.

Occasional items recorded include small reptiles such as geckos, skinks, and blind snakes, small fish, and bird eggs. In Hawaii, habituated birds living near human settlements have been observed eating discarded food including bread, rice, chicken, and fruit — behaviour that reflects both the species' intelligence and its adaptability to human-modified environments. Despite this flexibility, the species hunts entirely by sight and consistently selects open habitats where prey is visible against a short-vegetation background.

Pacific Golden-Plovers are strongly territorial on their wintering grounds — an unusual trait among migratory shorebirds. Most wintering birds defend a fixed patch of lawn, pasture, or mudflat against all rivals, returning to exactly the same territory year after year. In Hawaii, where this behaviour has been studied in detail, the site-fidelity rate is approximately 80%, meaning eight out of ten birds return to the same patch the following autumn.

Foraging follows the classic plover pattern: a short run of a few steps, an abrupt pause to scan, then a rapid peck to seize prey from the surface. The large eyes are central to this strategy — the species hunts entirely by sight, which explains why it favours open habitats with short vegetation where prey is visible and predators can be spotted early. In Hawaii, some birds have learned to excavate shallow holes in lawns to reach earthworms and millipedes buried just below the surface.

On the breeding grounds, males are conspicuously aggressive, chasing rival golden-plovers and most other shorebird species from territories that can span 25–125 acres (10–50 ha). One notable exception is the Dunlin, which is tolerated and often associates closely with golden-plovers — a relationship so well-observed that the Dunlin was historically called the 'plover's page' in 19th-century England. Outside the breeding season, non-territorial birds feed in loose groups, but dominant territory-holders feed alone.

Pre-migration behaviour is striking. In Hawaii, birds gather at traditional staging sites in late April, forming large flocks before departing en masse for Alaska. The same sites are used year after year, and the gatherings are predictable enough that local residents mark them on their calendars.

The Pacific Golden-Plover's most frequently heard call is a clear, melodious two-syllable whistle, variously transcribed as 'tu-weet' (second syllable upslurred), 'tlu-ee', or 'quee-lee-lee'. eBird describes it as a quick 'pip' note followed by a rising 'plooEEP!' — the first note shorter and more clipped than the equivalent call of the Grey Plover. The overall quality is mellow but quick, with an upbeat, almost cheerful character.

Separating it by ear from the American Golden-Plover is important for birders in the UK and along the US West Coast. The American's call is slower and squeakier — a rising 'T-wee' or mournful 't-wee-loo' — while the Pacific's is quicker, more urgent, and more two-noted. The written descriptions are similar enough to mislead; the actual quality and delivery differ more than the transcriptions suggest, and hearing both species is strongly recommended before attempting identification by call alone.

On the breeding grounds, males sing during the butterfly display flight — a repeated, plaintive 'teee-chewee' whistle delivered while flying with exaggerated wingbeats over the territory. The song consists of slow, slurred whistles punctuated with pauses. Alarm calls near the nest are sharper and more urgent, used to deter foxes and avian predators. Birds in migrating flocks give contact calls that help maintain cohesion over open ocean.

The species' voice is embedded in the cultures of the peoples who share its range. In Alaska, the Yup'ik name 'tuuliik' and the Inupiaq name 'tullik' are both directly descriptive of the bird's call — a reminder that indigenous communities have been listening carefully to this bird for far longer than Western ornithology has been recording it.

In the air, the Pacific Golden-Plover is swift and direct, with long pointed wings that give it a streamlined silhouette quite different from the broader-winged European Golden-Plover. The wingbeats are steady and powerful — the same stroke that carries birds 4,800 km non-stop across the Pacific. During migration, birds fly at altitudes of approximately 900 m up to 4,900 m, where favourable tailwinds can be exploited.

Several flight features are diagnostically useful. The rump is dark, immediately ruling out the Grey Plover, which shows a conspicuous white rump in flight. The underwing and axillaries are grey-brown — a key feature separating it from the European Golden-Plover, which has white underwings. The toes project slightly beyond the tail tip, a subtle but consistent character that differs from the American Golden-Plover, whose longer primary projection means the wingtips extend well beyond the tail when perched.

On the breeding grounds, the male's butterfly display flight is immediately recognisable: slow, exaggerated wingbeats carry the bird in wide arcs over the territory while it sings continuously. This display is quite unlike the fast, direct flight used for commuting and migration. When flushed from coastal grasslands or mudflats, birds typically call as they rise and fly in a low, fast arc before landing some distance away — rarely allowing a close approach a second time.