Wilson’s Plover, Charadrius wilsonia

Wilson’s Plover, Charadrius wilsonia beldingi. Photograph taken in the greater Los Cabos area of Baja California Sur, December 2019. Photograph courtesy of Dr. Tom Bartol, Carlsbad, California.

Wilson’s Plover, Charadrius wilsonia beldingi. Photograph taken in the coastal area of Yavaros, Sonora, March 2019. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

Wilson’s Plover, Charadrius wilsonia beldingi. Photographs taken with the rocky shoreline of the greater Bahía de los Ángeles area, Baja California, January 2019. Photographs courtesy of George Flicker, Bahía de los Ángeles. Identification courtesy of Mary & George Flicker, Bahía de los Ángeles.

Wilson’s Plover, Charadrius wilsonia wilsonia. Photographs taken on the beach in Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, March 2021. Photographs and identification courtesy of Marina Sutormina, Stockholm, Sweden.

Wilson’s Plover, Charadrius wilsonia beldingi and Charadrius wilsonia wilsonia, are two of four subspecies of Wilson’s Plover, the two of which are found in Mexico. They are a member of the Charadriidae Family of Plovers and Lapwings, that has sixty-eight members placed in ten genera, and is one of thirty-two global species of the Charadrius Genus. They are also known as the Thick-bill Plover and in Mexico as chorlito piquigrueso and chorlo pico grueso.

Wilson’s Plover is a medium-sized ringed plover. They have grayish-brown upperparts with white underparts with a dark brown breast band. Their bill is relatively long, black or dark brown and deep, their iris is dark brown, and their legs and feet are pale. They are sexually dimorphic with the males having a black breast band, lores and forecrown and the females are gray-brown with a rufous tinge.

Wilson’s Plover is found almost exclusively in coastal areas, including sandy and pebble beaches, sandbars, and mudflats, and along coastal lagoons with sparse vegetation. They forage on tidal mudflats consuming crustaceans, particularly crabs and some insects and other invertebrates. Their nests are preyed upon by ants, bobcats, cats, coyote, crabs, racoon, red fox, rodents and a large variety of birds. They roost on dry substrates above the high tide line. Breeding pairs are territorial during the nesting season, and may engage in group defense of their nesting areas. During the nonbreeding season, individuals congregate for roosting and foraging in groups ranging from a few birds to several hundred, primarily with other species of small plovers. They have life spans of up to six years.

Numerous Wilson’s Plover are long-distance migrators that make annual spring and fall migrations for wintering. Others are non-migratory and year-round residents. In Mexico they are found along the entire Atlantic and Pacific Coasts with the exception that they are absent from along the Pacific coast of Baja California. The beldingi subspecies is known to have breeding colonies from central Baja California to central Sonora south to the Guatemala border. The wilsonia subspecies is known to have breeding colonies along the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico to northern Veracruz and from the Yucatán south to Belize.

Wilson’s Plover can be distinguished from the Semipalmated Plover, Charadrius semipalmatos, and other ringed plovers by its larger size, large, heavy all black beak, pinkish-gray legs and single breast band.

From a conservation perspective Wilson’s Plover currently considered to be of Least Concern, however it is believed that their populations are declining and their range contracting. Their nests and roost sites are subject to disturbance by humans, livestock, loss of beach habitat due by human development and vehicle traffic from human recreational vehicles use.