on his native heath can appreciate how he seems to rule
with a martial air the domains under his control.
Powerful of wing stroke, trim of form as a grayhound,
and erect of carriage, this, the largest of our common
plovers, is the athlete of the wild birds of the North.
Neatly vestured in his silvery white and ebony black, he
is the fleetest racer of the air among a field of highly
developed specialists. To consider him swifter than the
graceful long-tailed jaeger or the far-ranging golden
plover is indeed a startling claim, but my judgment is
that the black-bellied plover can pass through the air
faster than any other feathered creature in the North. At
some time in the future it will be of great interest for
some enterprising ornithologist to test out in his racing
aeroplane the various flying speeds of the northern birds.
It is my prediction that the shore birds will be found to
lead the field there, and that the big black-bellied plover
will surpass them all. The Pacific godwit is a wonderful
air master, darting here and there with but the slightest
effort, yet our plover seems to have only one gear, and
that high speed. This may be best appreciated during
the gales that are of such frequent occurrence in that
storm-swept land. The bird can quarter, or fly into the
teeth of the wind, with such power as almost to disregard
it.
The above picture is not overdrawn, for this plover is one of our
strongest fliers. Migrating flocks fly high in great bunches or massed
formations, after the manner of many ducks. When flying short distances
or when coming in over the flats they fly low and are often strung out
in lines. Their flight seems to me to be steadier or more duck-like
than that of the smaller shore birds. The powerful, pointed wings move
very swiftly; Doctor Oberholser and I once made a number of accurate
counts of the wing beats of this and several other species in normal
flight; eight counts for this plover averaged 240 beats a minute, or 4
beats a second; the slowest was 225 and the fastest 250.
The black-bellied plover is wont to stand erect, with head held high,
in an attitude of dignified yet alert repose; it can be recognized
by its bold outline almost as far as it can be seen, away out on
the shimmering sands. It is a wary sentinel for all of its smaller
companions and it is utterly useless to attempt to approach it in an
open situation. It runs swiftly along at the water’s edge, stopping
frequently to look about or striking quickly at some morsel of food.
Dr. Charles W. Townsend (1905) says that they throw “the feet well
out in front as they run. Their usual stride is 3 or 4 inches, but I
have several times measured tracks that were 6 inches apart.” It is
interesting to watch them bathing; they squat down in shallow water and
spend much time in splashing, fluttering the wings, and dipping their
heads; then comes the drying process, shaking the water out of the body
plumage, flapping wings and wagging tails, followed by a long period of
careful preening. Francis H. Allen writes to me of another method of
bathing, as follows:
At one time they took to bathing, one after another, and
one pretty little performance was to fly up about a foot
and come splashing down into the water with much fluttering
of wings. One started this play, and another and another
took it up till half a dozen or more had gone through it.
They also hopped on one foot in the water, as shore birds
so often do on the beach, and, in this, one set the fashion
and others followed it. This hopping altogether seems to be
quite common play with various species.
Like most shore birds, they can swim quite easily, as the following
note from Francis M. Weston will show:
On March 27 I was watching a small flock of black-bellied
plovers feeding on a sand bar at low tide. One of the birds
was separated from the others by a deep pool about 6 feet
wide, and, in order to join them, entered the water and
swam across the pool. While in the water, it reminded me
very much of a diminutive gull--it floated high in the
“stern” with the forward part of the body low in the water.
The transit of the pool was made so quickly that there
was no time for a detailed study of the bird’s motions.
Thinking that the plover was wounded and had had to swim
through lack of ability to fly, I approached the flock,
when all took wing and flew to another bar several hundred
yards distant. An examination of the pool showed that it
was more than a foot deep--far too deep for a bird of that
size to wade.
_Voice._--To my mind the whistle of the black-bellied plover is one of
the sweetest and most fascinating of all the Limicoline voices; it is
not quite as melodious as that of the piping plover, nor is it quite as
startling as the loud call of the yellowlegs; but it heralds the coming
of one of our finest shore birds and hence it produces a thrill. The
sportsman loves to hear it and he can imitate it quite easily. John T.
Nichols has contributed the following notes on it:
The flight note of this species is a clear, mellow, ringing
whistle--_pe-oo-ee_. Although shortened and otherwise
varied at different times, this note is the only one
ordinarily heard from single individuals or small flocks.
In general it may be said that the diagnostic flight or
identification note of plovers is used more extensively
than in yellowlegs and other species, for instance, and
that they seem to have less variety of calls.
A second note heard from a flock of birds either in the air
or alighted, and in chorus when such a flock is flushed,
circling and hovering in uncertain manner, is a soft,
mellow _quu-hu_. A dissimilar unloud _cuk cuk cuk, cuk,
cuk, cuk cuk cuk cuk_ which I heard from a single bird in
Florida in September, alighted with decoys and running
about, completes my knowledge of the calls of this plover.
The ordinary call note, referred to above, has a sweet, mellow, and
plaintive quality, with a tinge of wildness, which enlivens the
solitude of the ocean beaches; I should write it _pee-u-wee_, the
first, loud, rich, and prolonged, the second lower and shorter, and the
third higher pitched, more plaintive, and softer. Grinnell, Bryant,
and Storer (1918) describe the note as “a loud, ringing _wher-rell_,
far reaching and, at a distance, clear and mellow in quality.” Dr. E.
R. P. Janvrin tells me that he has “also heard them utter a loud note
resembling that of the common tern, but not so harsh and more musical,
which is apparently an alarm note.”
_Field marks._--The black axillars, on the under side of the wing next
to the body, are very conspicuous when the bird is flying and form
the most reliable field mark in all plumages. The general outline of
the bird is characteristic, with its large head, short, heavy bill,
and erect carriage. The upper parts are light colored in all plumages,
especially so in spring, the upper tail coverts are nearly white and
there is a white band in the spread wing. In the fully black-breasted
plumage the black of the under parts does not extend so far back as on
the golden plover and the crown is much whiter. The presence of a hind
toe may be detected at a short distance.
_Fall._--The southward migration begins early in July and spreads out
entirely across the continent. Before the end of August the last of the
black-bellied plover have left their breeding grounds. The first of the
adults sometimes reach Massachusetts as early as the second week in
July; my earliest date is July 7; but the main flight comes in August
and most of the adults have left by the middle of September, though
I have seen adults here as late as October 29. The young birds come
later; I have seen them as early as August 10, but they usually do not
come in any numbers until September, and the heaviest flight is between
September 15 and October 15; a few linger into November. While here
they mingle freely with knots, turnstones, and red-backed sandpipers;
any of the smaller sandpipers are likely to be associated with them.
Professor Rowan (1923) gives much the same dates for Alberta and says
that the young birds are plentiful through October and “may stay right
into November, even for a week or two after the lakes have frozen
over.” M. P. Skinner tells me that he has seen them in Yellowstone Park
late in September with the thermometer down to zero. Mr. Rathbun tells
me that “the black-bellied plover is a regular and somewhat common
spring and autumn migrant along the coast of Washington and about Puget
Sound.” D. E. Brown’s notes from that region give dates extending from
August 26 to October 2.
_Game._--It is as a game bird that the black-bellied plover or
“beetlehead,” as it is called on Cape Cod, has achieved its greatest
reputation. There is no shore bird that is better known or more eagerly
sought; for it is not only a large plump bird but it is a swift flier,
and one of the wariest, most sagacious, and most difficult of the beach
birds to secure. To meet with any success in shooting this plover the
sportsman must be familiar with its habits in the locality where he
is shooting, must be well concealed in a skillfully made blind, and
must know how to imitate its notes perfectly. The old black-bellied
birds are particularly wary and will not come to the decoys unless the
surroundings are quite natural in appearance. Mr. Mackay (1892) says:
After many unsuccessful attempts to capture them one
becomes imbued with the fact that the old birds are well
calculated, under ordinary circumstances, to avoid danger;
they succumb only to those sportsmen who have served a long
apprenticeship, and who have acquired a knowledge of their
habits.
John C. Cahoon (1888), a veteran gunner and collector, has described
various methods used on Cape Cod, as follows:
Stands are built on the meadows and marshes by cutting
bushes of about the proper height and sticking them in the
grass or mud so as to form a circle of convenient size for
one or more gunners. If bushes can not be found handily,
dry seaweed, grass, and other materials are sometimes used.
On the mud flats bunches of sedge grass afford concealment,
but the most successful method is to make a bar in the sand
flats and sink a box, or dig a pit in the sand. It requires
considerable labor to build and keep a bar in order, also
to sink a box. The bar is laid bare before any of the
surrounding flats, consequently the birds, finding no other
feeding place uncovered, fly to the bar. One other way in
which large numbers are sometimes taken is to find out
the locality on the high beaches where they roost during
high tide, and digging a hole in the sand for a place of
concealment. They usually come to the same spot to roost
each high tide and by examining the beach these places can
be easily found, by the numerous footprints in the sand.
The blind should be completed soon after the tide begins to
flow, as these birds leave the flats as soon as the tide
commences to cover them. For the young, or “pale bellies,”
all that is needed is a pit dug with the sand thrown out
around the top edge and a few decoys placed out the right
distance from the pit. For the old “black breasts” it is
necessary to have the top covered over with boards and
dry sand spread on them and have an opening in the sides
and front, to shoot from. It is best not to put out any
decoys, as the old birds will seldom alight to decoys on
the beaches, even if they are made to look very natural.
Most of my shooting has been done on the flats or beaches, from sedge
grass or seaweed blinds. On the inner side of Monomoy the water is
very shallow and at dead low tide the birds are away off, perhaps a
mile from shore, on the edge of the water. The flats near shore are
dotted with islands of sedge grass, where the gunner can easily conceal
himself in the tall grass, with the decoys set out on the open mud. As
the tide comes in rapidly over the shallows, preceded by an advancing
line of foam, the birds begin to move, flying up to the marshes or
beaches. A blind may be made on the inner side of the beach by digging
a deep hole in the sand and piling up seaweed around it. In either case
the blind must be in some well-established fly way between the feeding
grounds and the resting places and must be well enough made to offer
good concealment. The best shooting comes on the first part of the ebb
and the latter part of the flood tide. The gunner must keep out of
sight and be ever on the alert, for at any moment he may hear the wild,
ringing cry or see single birds or small flocks dash by at high speed.
They seldom alight to the decoys, though they often circle over them
and are usually much scattered.
I have often found it good sport to stalk “beetleheads” on the beaches,
where they rest at high tide. One kills very few birds in this way, as
the chances are all in favor of the bird. Young birds are less wary
than old blackbreasts and a few can sometimes be obtained by crawling
up back of a sand dune and shooting them as they jump. This involves
plenty of exercise, requires perseverance, and calls for quick work
with the gun, and the bird generally escapes. Walter H. Rich (1907) has
described this very well, as follows:
Yet let the gunner peep ever so carefully over the edge
of the bank where he lies hidden and each wary feeder
becomes at once a motionless statue. Had he not seen their
animation a moment before he might think he had come upon
a wooden congregation of decoys. While he is still they
make no movement, but let him stir, either for nearer
approach or to draw back from view that he may get a better
position, and the instant his head goes out of sight behind
the long salt grass the flock noiselessly takes wing with
easy, graceful flight, alighting some hundreds of yards
away to feed comfortably until the dangerous admirer, with
stealthy caution and much toilsome trudging through the
shifting sand dunes, once more approaches too near for
safety, when the same performance again takes place. It
makes little difference how the approach is managed, the
result is generally the same; the gunner peers cautiously
at the spot where a moment since the flock was busily
feeding, and seeing them not soon discovers them 200 yards
away, apparently just as ready to tease him as before.
_Winter._--These plover, no longer black bellied now, spend the winter
in the southern United States and from there southward to central
Brazil and Peru. They winter commonly as far north as South Carolina
and the southern half of California, less commonly in North Carolina,
and casually farther north. I have seen them in immense flocks on the
great mud flats among the Florida keys and we had them with us all
winter on the beaches and sandy islands about Tampa Bay. They showed
their sagacity by their confiding tameness on the protected bathing
beaches and by their extreme wildness on the outer islands, where it
was almost impossible to approach them within gunshot range.
The gray plover of the Eastern Hemisphere goes as far south in winter
as southern Africa, Madagascar, and Australia. Charles Barrett,
referring to Australia, says in his notes:
This species sometimes associates in large flocks, but more
often is seen singly, or in pairs, feeding on mud flats
and along the sea beaches. It is a wary bird. Arriving in
spring (September) or early summer in the southern portions
of the continent it becomes widely distributed, but seems
to restrict itself mainly to the seashore. However, it
does wander inland at times, having been recorded, for
example, from the midlands of Tasmania. It leaves Australia
apparently in March or April (autumn) on the northern
flight to its breeding haunts.
DISTRIBUTION
_Range._--Cosmopolitan.
_Breeding range._--The breeding range of the black-bellied plover
in North America is confined to the Arctic coast north to Alaska
(Wainwright, Point Barrow, Colville River delta, Barter Island,
Collinson Point, and probably Demarcation Point); northern Mackenzie
(Cape Bathurst and probably Cape Kellett); Victoria Land (Taylor
Island); and Franklin (Fury Point and Melville Peninsula), East to
Franklin (Melville Peninsula); possibly Keewatin (Cape Fullerton); and
possibly Greenland (Sutherland Island). South to possibly Keewatin
(Cape Fullerton); Mackenzie (probably Bernard Harbor, Colville Hills,
and Franklin Bay); and Alaska (Hooper Bay). West to Alaska (Hooper Bay
and Wainwright).
In common with several other shore birds, nonbreeding specimens of this
species are frequently found during the summer months at points far
south of the breeding grounds. At this season they have been taken or
observed in Maine (Western Egg Rock); Massachusetts (Monomoy Island,
Marthas Vineyard, and Harvard); New York (Quogue, Freeport, Rockaway,
Long Beach, and Geneva); New Jersey (Tuckerton, Great Bay, and Absecon
Bay); Ohio (Bay Point); Virginia (Cobb Island and Cape Charles region);
South Carolina (Mount Pleasant, Magnolia Beach, and White Point Swash);
Florida (Fort De Soto, Amelia Island, Key West, Fernandina, and Daytona
Beach); Alabama (Dauphin Island); Louisiana (Breton Island); Texas
(Corpus Christi); Jamaica (Port Henderson); and the Galapagos Islands.
In the Palaearctic region it breeds from the eastern tundras of Arctic
Europe eastward throughout Arctic Asia to Kamchatka and on Kolguev and
the Siberian Islands.
_Winter range._--The American winter range extends north to Washington
(Strait of Juan de Fuca, and Dungeness Spit); Texas (Brownsville,
Corpus Christi, Rockport, and Matagorda); Louisiana (Breton Islands);
Alabama (Dauphin Island); and Virginia (Wallops Island). East to
Virginia (Wallops Island and Sandy Island); North Carolina (Pea Island
and Southport); South Carolina (Mount Pleasant and Port Royal); Georgia
(Darien, Cumberland, and St. Marys); Florida (Amelia Island, Fort
George, Seabreeze, Mosquito Inlet, Lake Okeechobee, Miami, and Upper
Matecumbe Key); the Bahama Islands (Abaco, Eleuthera, Watling, Acklin,
and Great Inagua); Haiti (Monte Christi); probably French Guiana
(Cayenne); and Brazil (Cajetuba and the Amazon region). South to Brazil
(Amazon region); and Peru (Callao). West to Peru (Callao, Chimbote,
and Tumbez); Ecuador (Bay of Santa Elena); the Galapagos Islands
(Albemarle); Colombia (Cartagena); probably Costa Rica (mouth of the
Martina River); probably Guatemala (Chiapam); Oaxaca (San Mateo);
Lower California (San Jose del Cabo, La Paz, and San Geronimo Island);
California (Coronado, Wilmington, Santa Cruz Island, Los Banos, San
Francisco, and mouth of Eel River); Oregon (Newport); and Washington
(Point Chehalis and Strait of Juan de Fuca).
Three specimens at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in December, 1872,
constitute the only winter record for that region.
In the eastern hemisphere it winters from the coasts of southern Europe
and Asia to southern Africa, Madagascar, the Seychelles, and Australia.
_Spring migration._--Early dates of spring arrival are: Pennsylvania,
Neville Island, April 26; New Jersey, Atlantic City, April 27, Cape
May, April 30, and Ocean City, May 5; New York, Montauk Point Light,
April 30, Great South Bay, May 1, and Long Beach, May 2; Rhode Island,
South Auburn, April 23, and Newport, May 9; Massachusetts, Cape Cod,
April 19, Monomoy Island, April 22, and Billingsgate, April 27; Nova
Scotia, Pictou, May 17; Missouri, Courtney, April 1, and Concordia,
April 19; Illinois, Hennepin, April 2, and Rantoul, April 16; Indiana,
Knox County, March 30; Ohio, Oberlin, April 24; Michigan, Forestville,
May 2; Ontario, Toronto, May 11, and Oshawa, May 14; Iowa, Keokuk,
April 22, Sioux City, May 8, and New Hampton, May 12; Wisconsin,
Racine, April 14, and Leeds Center, April 17; Minnesota, Heron Lake,
April 21, and Hutchinson, May 7; Nebraska, Vesta, April 21, and
Lincoln, May 10; South Dakota, Pitrodie, May 1, and Vermilion, May 3;
North Dakota, Rice Lake, May 5, Bathgate, May 9, and Harrisburg, May
10; Manitoba, Margaret, May 5, and Whitewater, May 20; Saskatchewan,
Wiseton, May 4, and Indian Head, May 9; Mackenzie, Fort Resolution,
June 2; Colorado, Denver, May 11, and Loveland, May 14; Utah, Provo,
May 11; Alberta, Camrose, May 1, Sturgeon River, May 12, Tofield, May
19, Veteran, May 22, and Fort Chipewyan, May 23; British Columbia,
Comox, April 23, and Courtenay, April 24; Yukon, Dawson, May 20; and
Alaska, Kuiu Island, May 3, Fort Kenai, May 6, Hooper Bay, May 9, and
mouth of the Yukon River, May 12.
Last dates of spring departure are: Panama, mouth of the Rio Venado,
March 27; Bahama Islands, Andros, April 14; Green Cay, April 29, and
Nassau, April 28; Florida, St. Marks, May 8, New Smyrna, May 14,
Pensacola, May 16, Daytona Beach, May 24, and Cedar Keys, May 27;
Alabama, Dauphin Island, May 19; Georgia, Savannah, May 13; South
Carolina, Frogmore, May 17, and Hilton Head, May 24; North Carolina,
Cape Hatteras, May 20, and Churchs Island, May 30; Virginia, Cobb
Island, May 19, and Wallops Island, May 26; Maryland, Dulaneys Valley,
May 13; Pennsylvania, Erie, May 19; New Jersey, Cape May County, May
23, and Elizabeth, May 30; New York, Jamaica, May 26, Lake Canandaigua,
May 30, and Orient Point, May 30; Connecticut, Westport, May 28,
Fairfield, May 30, and Norwalk, June 1; Rhode Island, Block Island, May
29, and South Auburn, June 5; Massachusetts, Ipswich, May 30, Dennis,
June 2, and Cape Cod, June 6; Quebec, Godbout, June 9; Louisiana,
Mermerton, May 2; Missouri, Concordia, May 23; Kentucky, Bowling Green,
June 3; Illinois, Chicago, May 26, and Waukegan, May 27; Indiana,
Indianapolis, May 30; Ohio, Oberlin, May 22, Youngstown, May 23, and
Painesville, May 27; Michigan, Detroit, May 26, Jackson, May 28, and
Charity Island, June 1; Ontario, Bowmanville, May 25, Toronto, May
26, Kingston, May 30; Iowa, Emmetsburg, May 25, National, May 26, and
Sioux City, May 31; Wisconsin, Shiocton, May 27, and Madison, May 30;
Minnesota, Waseca, May 24, Hallock, May 26, and Heron Lake, June 2;
Texas, Point Isabel, June 2, and Corpus Christi, June 7; Oklahoma,
Norman, May 25; Kansas, Wichita County, May 22; Nebraska, Alda, May 21;
South Dakota, Vermilion, May 24, and Forestburg, June 1; North Dakota,
Jamestown, May 15, Towner County, May 25, and Jerusalem, June 1;
Manitoba, Margaret, May 31, and Shoal Lake, June 3; Saskatchewan, Hay
Lake, June 2, and Kutanajan Lake, June 10; Colorado, Denver, May 30;
Montana, Baker, May 23; Alberta, Flagstaff, June 1, and Fort Chipewyan,
June 8; Yucatan, Cozumel Island, April 18; Oaxaca, San Mateo del Mar,
May 15; Vera Cruz, Tampico, April 10; Lower California, San Geronimo
Island, April 14, and San Quentin, May 10; California, Alameda, May 21,
and Santa Barbara, May 26; Washington, “east side of mountains,” May
18; and British Columbia, Masset, June 16.
_Fall migration._--Early dates of fall arrival are: British Columbia,
Comox, July 5; Oregon, coastal region, July 26; California, Venice,
July 4; Alameda, July 22, and Santa Barbara, July 24; Alberta,
Alliance, August 3; Colorado, Denver, August 21, and Barr, August 31;
Saskatchewan, Kiddleston, July 7, and Last Mountain Lake, August 19;
Manitoba, Oak Lake, July 31, and Shoal Lake, August 8; North Dakota,
Grafton, August 23; South Dakota, Forestburg, August 11; Nebraska,
Lincoln, August 7; Texas, Rockport, August 12, Tivoli, August 15, and
San Angelo, August 31; Wisconsin, Lake Koshkonong, August 14; Iowa,
Burlington, August 13; Ontario, Toronto, July 23, Beamsville, August
2, and Hamilton, August 9; Michigan, Little Lake, July 24, Greenville,
August 10, and Charity Island, August 20; Ohio, Painesville, August
12, and Columbus, August 23; Indiana, Millers, August 8; Illinois,
La Grange, August 21, and Chicago, August 24; Quebec, Godbout, July
30, and Bras d’Or, August 5; Maine, Portland, July 31; Massachusetts,
Essex, July 18, Attleboro Falls, July 21, and Monomoy Island, July 7;
Rhode Island, Point Judith, July 12, and South Auburn, August 13; New
York, Quogue, July 1, Montauk Point Light, July 20, Orient, July 24,
and Shinnecock Bay, August 5; New Jersey, Great Bay, July 19, Stone
Harbor, July 22, and Cape May, July 27; Pennsylvania, Erie, August
1, and Whites Island, August 10; Maryland, Plum Point, August 10;
Virginia, Cobb Island, August 19; North Carolina, Charlotte Inlet, July
4, Cape Fear, July 7, and Carolina Beach, July 10; Georgia, Savannah,
August 12; Alabama, Dauphin, and Petit Bois Islands, August 21;
Florida, Key West, August 8, Daytona Beach, August 17, and Pensacola,
August 28; and Lesser Antilles, Barbados, August 22, and Grenada,
August 27.