American Golden-Plover

Bright, high two-part calls ring out from a bird in flight. This clip is a flight-call variant, not the longer rhythmic display song.

Breeds in Arctic North America. It migrates through the Americas and winters mainly in southern South America, especially open grasslands and coastal flats.

Breeds on dry Arctic tundra with lichens, moss, and low shrubs. During migration, it turns up in plowed fields, short grass, sod farms, shorelines, and mudflats.

Most birders find it in spring and fall, often in open farm country or mixed shorebird flocks. Late-spring adults can look sharply black-and-white; fall birds are plainer, softer, and easy to overlook.

A sleek, elegant plover with a back sprinkled in gold and wings that seem too long for its body. In breeding plumage it looks stunning—inky black below with a crisp white border—while fall birds melt into fields in soft brown and gray.