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Habitat
Adult female Wilson's Plover, breeding plumage; Florida, March
Breeding Range
Coastal areas of high salinity and sparse vegetation including salt flats, coastal lagoons, sand dunes, newly accreted beach, dry sand beach above tidal area, overwash areas, and predunes (Tomkins 1944, Johnsgard 1981, Bergstrom 1982, Hayman et al. 1986, Corbat 1990). Typical vegetation on Texas salt flats includes saltwort (Batis maritima) and glasswort (Salicornia sp.; Bergstrom 1988a). Common plants associated with beach areas in Georgia are sea oats (Uniola paniculata), beach elder (Iva imbricata), salt-meadow cordgrass (Spartina patens), and Russian thistle (Salsola kali). Russian thistle is an extremely fast-growing invader often undetectable when territories are established, but it grows large by end of nesting season (Corbat 1990). See also Breeding: nest site, below, and Appendix .
Spring And Fall Migration
Congregates in groups on some barrier island beaches in Georgia by Jul, after nesting season has ended (Corbat 1990). Groups found on wide, flat, areas of beach with intertidal pools (CAC).
Winter Range
In ne. Venezuela, nonbreeders roost on dry substrates beyond high tide: on rock jetties and mudflats, near mangroves, and atop shell heaps (Thibault and McNeil 1994). Forages on tidal mudflats. In Panama in winter, uses beach areas with extensive intertidal mudflats (Strauch and Abele 1979).
Corbat, Carol A. and Peter W. Bergstrom. 2000. Wilson's Plover (Charadrius wilsonia), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/516
