Breeding range extensions for the Pacific Golden-Plover andBlack-bellied Plover on the Alaska Peninsula

To determine whether Pacific Golden-Plovers Pluvialis fulva and Black-bellied Plovers P. squatarola werenesting on the Alaska Peninsula, we conducted field surveys at several sites in 2004. We found both taxa breedingon the peninsula, with fulva in greater abundance. Our findings indicate that fulva nest from at least KingSalmon-Naknek southward to Port Heiden, and squatarola from at least Kukaklek Lake southward to PortHeiden. Breeding range extensions (i.e., from previously known nesting grounds nearest the peninsula to themost distant peninsular nest sites) exceed 300 km in both species. We suspect that further ornithologicalexploration will reveal these plovers breeding more widely on the peninsula than we describe here, and thatpeninsular breeding grounds will prove to be contiguous with non-peninsular parts of each species’ nesting range.

Savage, S.E. & Johnson, O.W. 2005., Wader Study Group Bull. 108: 63-65.