Wilson’s Plover

Wilson’s Plover is the largest belted Plover but smaller than the Killdeer, which has two collar bands to the Wilson’s Plover’s one. Its distinctive bill is heavier than all of them.

They are brown on top and white on the bottom with a dull brown collar that turns black during breeding season. Wilson’s Plovers forage on the higher reaches of the beach and dry mudflats for fiddler crabs, mollusks, worms and insects.

Their nests are built in a scrape above the tide line and are sometimes lined with pebbles, shells and plants. They lay about four buff eggs with dark spots. In behavior similar to the Killdeer, they will feign an injured wing to lure potential predators from their nests.