Black-bellied Plover, Arctic Nester

At home in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

In the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, June days offer almost continuous daylight to breeding birds, including this Black-bellied Plover. At this high latitude, Black-bellied Plovers can complete their breeding cycle in a month and a half. Not long after the summer solstice, the adults begin their southbound migration, without their young. Juveniles don't migrate with their parents, but wait a month.

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Transcript:

BirdNote^®

Black-bellied Plover, Arctic Nester

Written by Frances Wood

This is BirdNote!
[Mournful call of the Black-bellied Plover]
We’re approaching the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. In the northern reaches of Canada and Alaska, June days offer breeding birds almost continuous daylight. Listen to one shorebird that breeds in the Arctic, the Black-bellied Plover. As you listen, imagine a bird with a dramatic black face, neck, and belly, a stark white head and a speckled back.
[Call of the Black-bellied Plover]
In late April and early May, Black-bellied Plovers wing their way up both the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts on their northward migration. Many settle into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to nest on the tundra. Here, a male circles overhead while giving its flight song. [Flight song of the Black-bellied Plover]
At this high latitude, the plovers can complete their breeding cycle in a month and a half. The parents build open nests on the ground, where they lay and incubate four eggs. As soon as the young hatch, alert and covered with down, they leave the nest to begin foraging for insects on the tundra’s low vegetation. Their parents lead the way.
Shortly after the summer solstice, however, the adult Black-bellied Plovers begin their southbound migration, without their young. The juveniles won’t follow for another month. Remarkable.
[Call of the Black-bellied Plover]
To learn more about Black-bellied Plovers and other birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, visit us on the web at BirdNote.org. I’m Mary McCann.
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Call of the Black-bellied Plover provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Mournful call recorded by W.W.H. Gunn, flight calls recorded by R. Stein.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2012 Tune In to Nature.org June 2012 Narrator: Mary McCann

ID#062005BBPLKPLU BBPL-01b

[Alternate line, not for 2010: Today is the summer solstice, the longest day