Jeff Peterson, age 12, of Des Moines, Iowa, for his question:
What sort of bird is the golden plover?
On rare occasions, people in the central states catch a glimpse of golden plovers, flocking north or south with a whirr of wings. Some of these birds migrate between their summer and winter residences by way of the Mississippi Valley. However, they take non stop flights. They rarely pause for a rest, even on trips of 1,000 miles or more. This is a pity because it deprives us of a chance to admire these beauties of the bird world.
The gold of the golden plover is spattered among the brownish speckles on his back and wings. Those slim elegant wings are built for endurance and when folded along his sides, their tapering tips are longer than his tail. The coloration of most animals tends to be lighter below and darker above. Not so the golden plover. His underside is jet black. Even in summer, when it changes to grey, it is much darker than his gold bespeckled back.
His startling outfit is enhanced by a white band that reaches back from his forehead, separating light and dark plumage along his sides. Naturally he views the world through a pair of bright round golden eyes. He is about the same size as a robin, though his finery makes him more outstanding. Both the males and females wear identical outfits.
This bird does not look like a champion athlete. But on one of his regular migration flights he travels non stop over the ocean for perhaps 3,000 miles. The champion long distance flier of the bird world is the Arctic tern, but he makes many stops on his way to and from Antarctica.
Life for the golden plover begins in the Arctic, when the summer sun turns night into day. The swampy tundra is a patchwork of flowery colors and edible insects are everywhere. The leggy chicks leave their hollow nest on the ground as soon as they hatch. Many families are crowded within chirping distance and their total nesting grounds spread 4,000 miles or more around the Arctic shores.
Curlews, lapwings and dozens of other kinds of birds share these roomy nesting grounds. That elegant white neighbor wearing a neat black cap is the famous Arctic tern, no doubt planning his 10,000 mile flight to Antarctica. Most of our birds migrate merely a few hundred miles to where winters are somewhat milder. But the golden plover is among the ambitious ones who cross the equator to enjoy the summer season in both hemispheres.
The young birds are ready for take off long before summer ends, and flocks of golden plovers take three separate flyways southward. Those that nest in Alaska take the ocean route to Hawaii or continue on to Pacific islands far south of the equator. Flocks veer out over the Atlantic. These two flyways merge in Argentina, just in time for the summer season in the Southern Hemisphere.