[Birdtalk] Fw: [Birdnet] Plover photo

[Cliff and Lisa Weisse]

I'll throw my two cent's worth into this discussion because I can't resist shorebirds.  This bird is not a juvenile.  The black on the belly eliminates any juvenile Pluvialis plover.  Since it's an adult, or first summer bird(?), it can't be a Black-bellied because it's obviously much too golden in coloration, in addition to the structural points already mentioned.  The most important field mark for seperating American from Pacific Golden Plover is the primary projection (the distance the primaries extend beyond the tertials) as well as the number of primary tips visible beyond the tertials.  On this individual you can't make out the primary tips to count how many are visible but the projection does look short for an American.  The bill looks better for American.  Guess I'm not willing to go out on a limb and call this a Pacific but I'm not willing to say it is not one either.  Very interesting bird.  

Cliff

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