_Charadrius fulvus_ Gmelin, Syst. Nat., 1, pt. 2, 1789, p. 687.
(Type locality, Tahiti.)
_Charadrius pluvialis_ Kittlitz, Obser. Zool., in Lutké., Voy. "Le
Séniavine," 3, 1836, pp. 287, 299, 304 (Ualan, Longounor, Guahan);
_idem_, Denkw. Reise russ. Amer. Micron. und Kamchat., 2, 1858,
pp. 32, 55 (Ualan).
_Charadrius virginianus_ Hartlaub, Journ. f. Ornith., 1854, p. 167
(Mariannen, Carolinen).
_Charadrius longipes?_ Gray, Cat. Birds Trop. Is. Pacific Ocean,
1859, p. 47 (Ladrone or Marian Islands, Oualan).
_Pluvialis fulvus_ Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, 6, no. 29, 1865, p. 52
(Micronesie).
_Charadrius fulvus_ Finsch and Hartlaub, Fauna
Central-polynesiens, 1867, p. 196 (Marianen, Ualan); Hartlaub and
Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1868, pp. 8, 117, 118 (Pelews);
Finsch and Hartlaub, Journ. f. Ornith., 1870, p. 139 (Pelew);
Finsch, Journ. f. Ornith., 1872, p. 52 (Pelew, Carolinen);
Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872, pp. 89, 104
(Pelew, Mackenzie, Uap); Gräffe, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 2, 1873,
p. 123 (Yap); Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, pp. 5, 31
(Palau); _idem_, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, pp. 18, 38
(Ponapé); _idem_., Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1877 (1878), p. 781
(Ponapé); _idem_, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 576 (Ruk);
_idem_, Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, pp. 293, 305 (Ponapé, Kuschai);
_idem_, Ibis, 1880, pp. 220, 331, 332 (Taluit); Schmeltz and
Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, pp. 281, 353 (Ponapé,
Ruk); Finsch, Ibis, 1881, pp. 105, 106, 109, 113, 115 (Kushai,
Ponapé); Salvadori, Ornith. Papuasia, 3, 1882, p. 395 (Carolines,
Pelews, Marianas); Finsch, Mitth. Ornith. Ver. Wien, 1884, p. 55
(Jaluit, Milli, Kuschai); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool.
Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 63 (Marshall Islands,
Ualan, Luganor, Ponapé, Ruk, Uap, Pelew, Marianne); Oustalet,
Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 8, 1896, p. 46 (Guam,
Hogoleu, Marshalls, Palaos); Hartert, Novit. Zool. 5, 1898, p. 66
(Guam); _idem_, Novit. Zool., 7, 1900, p. 9 (Ruk); Seale, Occ.
Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1, 1901, p. 36 (Micronesia);
Schnee, Ornith. Monatsber., 1901, p. 132 (Marshalls); Safford,
Osprey, 1902, p. 68 (Marianas); _idem_, The Plant World, 7, 1904,
p. 266 (Guam); Schnee, Zool. Jahrbücher, 20, 1904, p. 389
(Marschall-Inseln); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 51
(Ponapé).
_Charadrius dominicus fulvus_ Safford, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb., 9,
1905, p. 80 (Guam); Cox, Island of Guam, 1917, p. 22 (Guam).
_Charadrius dominicus_ Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 24, 1896,
p. 195 (Micronesia).
_Pluvialis dominicus fulvus_ Ridgway, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50,
pt. 8, 1919, p. 89 (Kuschai, Pelew, Ruk, Marianas, Mackenzie,
Ponapé); Wetmore, in Townsend and Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl.,
63, 1919, p. 177 (Uala, Arhno, Rongelab); Kuroda, in Momiyama,
Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 44 (Guam, Angaur, Ualan, Luganor,
Ponapé, Ruk, Yap, Arhno); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942,
p. 216 (Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Babelthuap, Koror, Peliliu, Angaur,
Yap, Ulithi, Truk, Lukunor, Ponapé, Kusaie, Mille, Arhno, Majuro,
Likieb).
_Pluvialis apricarius fulvus_ Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev.,
1932, p. 193 (Saipan, Tinian, Babelthuap, Koror, Pelilieu, Angaur,
Yap, Uluthi, Truk, Lukunor, Ponapé, Kusaie, Mille, Arhno, Majuro,
Likieb).
_Pluvialis dominica fulva_ Peters, Check-list Birds World, 2,
1934, p. 244 (Oceania); Bryan, Guam, Rec., vol. 13, no. 2, 1936,
p. 24 (Guam); Stickney, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1248, 1943, p. 3
(Saipan, Guam, Palau, Ponapé, Kusaie, Ruk, Tarawa); Mayr, Birds
Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 39 (Oceania); Downs, Trans. Kansas
Acad. Sci., 49, 1946, p. 93 (Tinian); Strophlet, Auk, 1946, p. 536
(Guam); Borror, Auk, 1947, p. 417 (Agrihan); Stott, Auk, 1947, p.
525 (Saipan); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15,
1948, p. 50 (Guam, Rota, Peleliu, Garakayo, Ulithi, Truk).
_Pluvialis dominica_ Wharton and Hardcastle, Journ. Parasitology,
32, 1946, pp. 306, 310, 313, 316, 318 (Ulithi, Guam); Wharton,
Ecol. Monogr., 16, 1946, pp. 174, 175 (Guam).
_Geographic range._--Breeds from Siberia to western Alaska. Winters
from India east to Oceania; stragglers occur west to Africa and
east to Pacific coast of North America. In Micronesia: Mariana
Islands--Guam, Rota, Tinian, Saipan, Agrihan, Asuncion; Palau
Islands--Angaur, Peleliu, Ngabad, Garakayo, Koror, Babelthaup;
Caroline Islands--Yap, Ulithi, Truk, Lukunor, Ponapé, Kusaie;
Marshall Islands--Mille, Arhno, Rongelab, Majuro, Likieb, Bikini.
_Specimens examined._--Total number, 69 (39 males, 26 females, 4
unsexed), as follows: Mariana Islands, USNM--Guam, 17 (July 8, 19,
24, Aug. 31, Sept. 4, 17, 19, 26, Oct. 5, 8, 23, 24)--Rota, 5 (Oct.
20, 25); AMNH--Guam, 6 (Mar. 7, 8, 27, Aug. 15)--Saipan, 1 (Sept.
8)--Asuncion, 2 (Feb. 16); Palau Islands, USNM--Peleliu, 9 (Sept.
6-20)--Garakayo, 1 (Sept. 20); AMNH--exact locality not given, 7
(Oct. 13, Nov. 13, 15); Caroline Islands, USNM--Ulithi, 4 (Aug. 16,
21); AMNH--Kusaie, 9 (Mar. 10-30)--Ponapé, 2 (Dec. 15)--Truk, 3
(Feb. 6); Marshall Islands, USNM--Bikini, 3 (Mar. 4, 7, May 3).
_Parasites._--Wharton (1946:174, 175) records the following
chiggers (Acarina) from _Pluvialis_ taken by the NAMRU2 party at
Guam: _Acariscus pluvius_, _A. anous_, _Neoschöngastia carveri_,
and _N. namrui_; and at Ulithi: _N. pauensis_ and _N. ewingi_.
_Weights._--Birds taken at Guam and Rota weighed as follows: seven
males, 107-125 (117); four females, 109-120 (114).
_Remarks._--The Pacific Golden Plover is one of the most abundant
migratory shore birds to visit Micronesia. So characteristic of
Micronesia is this species that almost all ornithologists who have made
observations in the area have recorded it. Finsch observed the plover in
the Carolines and Marshalls. Coultas made notes on, and collected
specimens of, it in the Marianas, Carolines, and Palaus. The Hand-list
of Japanese Birds (Hachisuka _et al._, 1942:216) lists _Pluvialis_ from
17 islands in Micronesia.
Stickney (1943:3, 4) discusses the migrations of the Pacific Golden
Plover through Oceania, using as a basis for her remarks the data from
the extensive collections made by the Whitney South Sea Expedition. She
states that the northward migration begins in March from the southern
islands (New Zealand and southern Australia). At Guam in 1945, the
writer observed flocks of plover beginning on February 11. Birds were
seen in small groups in March and April. In the latter month most of the
birds seen were in nuptial plumage. For the year 1945, the latest spring
record at Guam was April 28. In the same year, Gleise (1945:220)
observed his last spring record at Tinian "between April 26 and 27." In
1946, Morrison obtained plover in nuptial plumage at Bikini on May 3.
In an effort to obtain dates when shore birds appeared at Guam, field
parties of NAMRU2 made observations at several beaches in late spring,
summer, and early fall, as is shown in table 8. Pacific Golden Plovers
in post-nuptial molt were first observed and collected on July 8.
Following this date, small flocks and later large flocks were more
numerous; by September 29, plover were abundant. Similar findings were
obtained at Ulithi (see table 9) and in the Palau Islands (see table 10)
in August and September. The birds collected by the NAMRU2 party at
Guam, Ulithi, Peleliu, and Garakayo in July, August, September, and
early October were in postnuptial molt. Birds taken at Rota on October
20 and 26 were in winter plumage. Downs (1946:93) observed plover in
small flocks at Tinian in 1945, beginning after September 5. Borror
(1947:417) saw two birds at Agrihan on August 10, 1945.
The flocks of plover seen by the NAMRU2 party varied in size from three
to 30 birds, the average being less than ten. Coultas (field notes)
noted "large flocks" at the Palaus from October to December, 1931.
Although plover was often found on the same beach as other birds, the
NAMRU2 observers rarely saw plover together with other shore birds.
However, on air strips _Pluvialis_ occasionally occurred with small
numbers of _Arenaria_, _Heteroscelus_ spp., and _Numenius phaeopus_.
_Pluvialis_ and _N. phaeopus_ were the only shore birds found to use
open grassy flats and other inland areas at Guam and Peleliu in 1945.
Stickney (1943) records _Pluvialis_ in late spring and summer from
Polynesia, indicating these to be birds remaining in the winter range
during the breeding season. The NAMRU2 party observed no Pacific Golden
Plovers at Guam which might be regarded as non-migrants, but other
species of shore birds were found which might be considered as such. The
lingering of individuals in the winter range is not unusual among
migratory birds, and as Stickney points out, most of the non-migrants
retain their winter dress or assume an incomplete breeding plumage.
=Charadrius hiaticula semipalmatus= Bonaparte