Bird Guide: Water Birds, Game Birds, and Birds of Prey East of the Rockies

by Chester A. Reed

278. Ægialitis nivosa. 6.5 in.

Very small and very pale colored. Small black patch on either side of the breast, on ear coverts, and on crown. Bill more slender but longer than that of the [Piping Plover].

Notes.—Low, mournful, piping whistles.

Range.—United States chiefly west of the Rockies, east to Kansas and north to Dakota.

WILSON PLOVER

280. Ochthodromus wilsonius. 7.5 in.

Bill large and heavy for birds of this genus. A black band across the neck, not extending to the back of the neck; dark line between eye and bill.

Notes.—A “mixture of whistle and chirp,” very different from that of allied plovers. (Elliott).

Nest.—A shallow hollow in the sand, sometimes concealed by short beach grass; eggs grayish, spotted and scratched with blackish brown (1.25 × .95).

Range.—Breeds on the Gulf and South Atlantic coasts north to Virginia; later may stray to Maine.