American Golden Plover

• Its autumn migration includes a non-stop flight of more than four thousand kilometres over the western Atlantic, from north-eastern Canada to northern South America, over open water the whole way.
• The outward and return routes are different: in spring it comes back through the interior of the continent, across the Great Plains, forming an enormous elliptical circuit.
• It was one of the species decimated by commercial hunting in North America at the end of the nineteenth century, when whole flocks were shot on migration to be sold in city markets.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat & environment

Arctic tundra of Alaska and Canada for breeding; pampas and grasslands of the Southern Cone for wintering

Birth weight

Precocial: born covered in down and leaves the nest within a few hours

Size at birth

Precocial: born covered in down and leaves the nest within a few hours

Sexual maturity

12 months

Gestation / incubation

26 days

Litter / clutch size

4

Sources consulted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_golden_plover

Best time: From August to October on migration, on grasslands and coasts of the Americas; it breeds on the Arctic tundra in June and July.