Western Snowy Plover Facts
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The western snowy plover (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus) is a small wading shorebird with pale brown wings, back, tail and head and white under parts. It has dark patches on either side of the upper breast, dark gray to blackish legs and a black bill.
Fast Facts
Length: 5.9-6.6 inches.
Weight: 1.2-2 ounces.
Lifespan: About 3 years.
Diet
Western snowy plovers eat invertebrates like crustaceans and mollusks, marine worms, along with insects.
Population
There are an estimated 2,600 western snowy plovers along the Pacific coast.
Range
Western snowy plovers are found throughout the southwestern United States from Texas to California and up to Colorado, as well as Washington and Oregon. See a western snowy plover range map >>
Behavior
Snowy plovers are primarily visual foragers, using the run-stop-peck method of feeding typical of most plover species. They forage on invertebrates in the wet sand and amongst surf-cast kelp within the inter-tidal zone, in dry, sandy areas above the high tide, on salt pans, on spoil sites and along the edges of salt marshes, salt ponds and lagoons. They sometimes probe for prey in the sand and pick insects from low-growing plants.
Did You Know?
Plover nests are camouflaged to look like sand and are barely visible to even the most well-trained eye.
Western snowy plovers make nests on sand spits, dune-backed beaches, beaches at creek and river mouths and the banks of lagoons and estuaries. The nests, or scrapes, are made in small depressions, often human footprints in the sand, and are constructed using pebbles, shell fragments, fish bones, mud chips, vegetation fragments, or invertebrate skeletons.
Reproduction
Mating Season: Early March to late September.
Gestation: 1-2 months.
Clutch size: Usually 3, but can lay 2-4 eggs.
Plover chicks leave the nest just hours after hatching to forage for food under the watchful eyes of their parents. The parents try to distract any predators or people that approach and lead them away from the chicks, which are not able to fly for about a month.
Climate Change and Other Threats
The western snowy plover is threatened by human activity on the beaches where the bird lives, primarily because feet and vehicles smash the eggs.
Climate change is projected to cause sea level rise of a foot or more on the West Coast during this century, which is bad news for this and other beach-nesting birds. Increased storm surges may also threaten nests.
Legal Status/Protection
- Endangered Species Act (ESA): Western snowy plovers are listed as threatened under the ESA.
- Learn more about legal status and protection of western snowy plovers >>
How You Can Help
- Help Western Snowy Plovers and other wildlife by adopting an animal at our Wildlife Adoption Center.
- Take Action for Wildlife at our Wildlife Action Center.
