Distribution

Breeding Range

Arctic and sub-Arctic from n. Alaska, n. Yukon Territory, n. Mackenzie, Banks, Victoria and s. Somerset Is., coastal Keewatin (Melville and Boothia Peninsulas; Godfrey 1986), inland to Kazan River valley (Kennedy 1988), Igloolik I. (Forbes et al. 1992), central and s. Baffin I. (north at least to Clyde Inlet; Godfrey 1986) up to 350 km from Arctic Bay (Renaud et al. 1979), Belcher Is. (Manning 1976, Morrison 1997), Hudson Strait, Ungava Peninsula, Ungava Bay, and n. Labrador coast south to Pribilof and e. Aleutian Is. (west to Adak) s. Alaska (west to Alaska Peninsula), nw. and central British Columbia (including Queen Charlotte Is.; Campbell et al. 1990), se. Yukon Territory, s. Mackenzie (Great Slave Lake; Godfrey 1986), ne. Alberta (Wood Buffalo National Park; Semenchuk 1992), n. Saskatchewan, n. Manitoba (coast of Hudson Bay, inland along rail lines to Bird and Herchmer; Godfrey 1986), n. Ontario (coast of Hudson and James Bays, but also inland along major rivers; Hussell 1987), possibly scattered other locations (Schueler et al. 1974): central and coastal Quebec, Magdalen I., Anticosti I. (Gauthier and Aubry 1996), s. Labrador coast, Gulf of St. Lawrence, s. New Brunswick (mostly Grand Manan Is.), s. Nova Scotia and Northumberland Strait, coastal Prince Edward I. (Erskine 1992), and Newfoundland (mainly beaches, but also shores of rivers and ponds; Peters and Burleigh 1951). One to several pairs have bred in recent years far south of main range at Iona I. in s. British Columbia (Campbell et al. 1990), at Grays Harbor in coastal Washington (Paulson 1993), and at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (Harney Co.) in se. Oregon (Gilligan et al. 1994). One pair also bred in 1999 at mouth of Santa Maria River in Santa Barbara Co., CA (J. Chavez pers. comm.) Has also bred casually at Le Blanc Lake in s.-central British Columbia (Campbell et al. 1990). In the east, very old record of nest on gravelly beach, Amherst I., Ontario (Macoun 1900).

Winter Range

Winters in U.S. along Pacific Coast from n. California south to Baja California, with smaller numbers wintering locally north to Oregon and Washington (Paulson 1993, Gilligan et al. 1994), and very rarely Strait of Georgia and Vancouver I., British Columbia (Campbell et al. 1990). Small numbers also winter inland at Salton Sea in se. California (Small 1994). Winters along Atlantic Coast from s. Virginia south to s. Florida and locally along Gulf Coast from s. Florida west to s. Texas (Oberholser 1974, Stevenson and Anderson 1994). Winters locally and irregularly north to s. New Jersey (Sibley 1997), rarely north to New York (Bull 1974) and Massachusetts (Veit and Petersen 1993), and exceptionally Nova Scotia (single birds; Christmas Bird Counts 1976–1978, 1982).

Winters locally at coastal sites throughout West Indies (Raffaele et al. 1998); regular winter resident in small numbers in Bermuda since 1980s (Amos 1991).

Winters along Pacific and Atlantic coasts throughout Mexico and Central America and locally at inland sites in portions of central Mexico south to Central Volcanic Belt (Ridgely and Gwynne 1989, Howell and Webb 1995).

In South America, winters along Atlantic coasts from Colombia (infrequent inland; Hilty and Brown 1986, Naranjo and Mauna 1996), Venezuela (including offshore islands, occasionally in northern interior; Meyer de Schauensee and Phelps 1978), Guyana (Tostain et al. 1992), Suriname (including small numbers inland; Haverschmidt and Mees 1994), presumably French Guiana, Brazil (Sick 1993), Uruguay (Gore and Gepp 1978), and Argentina (south to Santa Cruz Province [Narosky and Yzurieta 1989]; accidental in Tierra del Fuego). Winters along Pacific coasts of Colombia (Hilty and Brown 1986, Naranjo and Mauna 1996), Ecuador (P. Burke pers. comm.), and Peru (small flocks or single individuals along coast; Ashmole 1970, Pulido et al. 1996) south to central Chile, where rare in winter (Araya and Chester 1993, A. Jaramillo pers. comm.), although small flocks have occurred in Coquimbo Bay (Tabilo et al. 1996). Also winters in Galápagos Is. (Castro and Phillips 1996).

Other Records

Casual in Revillagigedo Is. (Socorro I.) and Clipperton I., off coast of w. Mexico

One breeding record in Siberia (Chukoptka, Provideniya, in 1994; D. Paulson pers. comm.), where Common Ringed Plover was also present. Casual or accidental in Greenland, Azores, Britain (Isles of Scilly), e. Siberia, and Johnston and Baker Is. in the Pacific (Hayman et al. 1986, Am. Ornithol. Union 1998).

No evidence of change in distribution, but present distribution on Baffin I. poorly known.

One complete right humerus (F:AM 11309) found, similar to Piping Plover in size and morphology; first pre-Pleistocene record for family (Bickert 1990). One distal end of tibiotarsus identical to that of Killdeer, the first Charadrius record from Pliocene (Chandler 1990). No fossil Semipalmated Plover found.