Thousands upon thousands of Killdeer have converged on this area, forming huge flocks. A small flock of 18 birds landed in this field - some shorebirds that were likely plovers but weren't Killdeer.
The prairie soil around here is Dark Brown Chernozemic without much organic matter. Decades of chemical-based farming has pretty much destroyed the soil and now many of the plowed fields are this clumpy grey. I digress....
These juvenile American Golden-Plovers (Pluvialis dominica) blend right in, don't they?
A slightly better view.
Frankly, these Am. Golden-Plovers look like the juveniles of the Black-belled Plovers, another common migrant - except the BBPLs have black axilliary (armpit) feathers in all plumage phases. This bunch had light coloured axillaries. Ergo, AGPL - the other similar plover species likely to be found here. (Qualifier, the Pacific Golden-Plover juveniles are almost identifical, but hey...)
For more info about American Golden-Plovers, go to All About Birds at
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Golden-Plover/id
The prairie soil around here is Dark Brown Chernozemic without much organic matter. Decades of chemical-based farming has pretty much destroyed the soil and now many of the plowed fields are this clumpy grey. I digress....
These juvenile American Golden-Plovers (Pluvialis dominica) blend right in, don't they?
A slightly better view.
Frankly, these Am. Golden-Plovers look like the juveniles of the Black-belled Plovers, another common migrant - except the BBPLs have black axilliary (armpit) feathers in all plumage phases. This bunch had light coloured axillaries. Ergo, AGPL - the other similar plover species likely to be found here. (Qualifier, the Pacific Golden-Plover juveniles are almost identifical, but hey...)
For more info about American Golden-Plovers, go to All About Birds at
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Golden-Plover/id
I know what your saying about chemical farming. And then much of our soil has headed down to the Gulf of Mexico due to erosion.
ReplyDeleteI wish I got to see more shorebirds with very little standing water in our county I rarely see any other than the occasional killdeer. And if I did it's doubtful I'd be able to identify any. Oh well....
Very nice photos of the AGPs!
ReplyDeleteNice! I love plovers!
ReplyDelete