Other

Some early ornithologists in North America thought American Golden-Plover and Eurasian Golden-Plover were the same species (e.g., Catesby in 1743; see McAtee 1957). First scientific description of American Golden-Plover was by Brisson in 1760 from specimens collected at Hispaniola (see Am. Ornithol. Union 1983). American Golden-Plover has the dubious honor of at least 52 local and regional folk names in U.S. and Canada (e.g., McAtee 1923), among them bullhead, field plover, greenback, muddy-belly (fall adult), pale-breast (juvenile), and prairie pigeon. The long list mostly commemorates unfortunate popularity of this species with nineteenth-century gunners (see Conservation and Management: effects of human activity, above). Hunting of American Golden-Plovers was officially terminated by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.

The Pacific Golden-Plover has a colorful past in both prehistoric and historic times. Many have suggested that the migratory cycle of this species was interpreted by seafaring Polynesians as an indicator of undiscovered land to the north, thus leading to colonization of the Hawaiian I. (e.g., Cartwright 1929, Dodd 1972, Kane 1976, Lewis 1977). Plover migration/Polynesian exploration relationship was portrayed on a 1984 U.S. postage stamp commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of Hawaii statehood.

Midden remains and accounts of early observers indicate that Pacific Golden-Plover was a seasonal food resource for Hawaiians, and fat spring birds also may have been used as a source of lamp oil. Birds were captured with grooved “kolea stones” to which were attached either leg snares or gorges baited with grubs; thus prepared the stones were placed on the ground at sites where plovers gathered (Wilson and Evans 1892, Bryan 1915, Collins and Watanabe 1983, Kirch 1983, Pyle 2009). This species also figured prominently in ancient Hawaiian culture and is often mentioned in hula chants and traditional folklore; considered to be the embodiment of Koleamoku, a god of healing; also a messenger of high chiefs (Fornander 1916–1917, Beckwith 1970, Barrere 1975).

The Pacific Golden-Plover was discovered by Europeans during the second Pacific voyage of Capt. James Cook. Type was collected 26 Aug 1773 at Matavai Bay, Tahiti, by J. R. Forster. Subsequent events in history of species involved several famous naturalists and other notable figures (see Johnson 1993 for detailed account, including plover-related records from all three of Cook’s Pacific expeditions). No comparable treatment of American Golden-Plover. Type specimen of the latter collected at Hispaniola with first description of the species published by Müller in 1776 (see Am. Ornithol. Union 1998). American Golden-Plovers and Eskimo Curlews (Numenius borealis) in offshore fall migration almost certainly led Columbus to the New World (Tooke 1961, Gollop et al. 1986).