Home : Online Bird Identification Guide : Shorebirds : Bird Watcher's Digest: Species Identification: Snowy Plover

Twitter Updates

Snowy Plover

Charadruis alexandrinus L 6 ¼" (16 cm)

Illustration by Julie Zickefoose Listen to a snowy plover.

The snowy plover is pale above a partial breast band. The snowy is often described as having “collar buttons,” because its ring is generally restricted to two elongated dark patches on the sides of the neck. The legs are black or grayish and the thin, rather long bill bill is always all black.

The snowy plover inhabits barren sandy beaches and flats. Its call is a low krut and a soft whistled ku-wheet. The display song (from the ground) is a repeated whistled tuEEoo.

Sharpen your bird ID skills with Bird Watcher's Digest! Each issue of Bird Watcher's Digest contains an in-depth profile of a commonly encountered bird species. Just $19.99 for six issues!

ID More Birds, Have More Fun with help from the experts at Bird Watcher's Digest! Enhance your birding enjoyment with this great new book – a perfect companion for your favorite field guide. Inside you'll find 50 ID problems solved in more than 390 pages. Just $19.95 plus s/h.

"Identify Yourself is a goldmine for birders who are befuddled by look-alike species" – Scott Weidensaul, author of Living on the Wind and The Ghost with Trembling Wings.