Where to see
Pluvialis squatarola
Padre Island National Seashore leads · 11 parks ranked by real sighting rates
Share of wildlife watchers reporting a Black-bellied Plover during a day in the park, from citizen-science data (GBIF)
| # | Park | Country | Sighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Padre Island National Seashore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | Camargue | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 6 | Bahía de Loreto National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 7 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 8 | Rottnest Island | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Ciénaga de Zapata | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 10 | El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 11 | Celestún Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
Padre Island National Seashore
In Padre Island National Seashore, United States, about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Black-bellied Plover sighting on a given day, the highest of the 11 parks where we can rate it, from GBIF citizen-science data.
West Coast National Park and more
After Padre Island National Seashore, the next-best odds of seeing a Black-bellied Plover are in West Coast National Park (South Africa, about 60%), Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 50%) and Camargue (France, about 30%). Outside North America, the best options are West Coast National Park in Africa (about 60%), Camargue in Europe (about 30%) and Rottnest Island in Oceania (about 20%).
It depends on the park
In the top parks, the best months are September in Padre Island National Seashore (about 80%), March and April in West Coast National Park (about 80%) and August, October and December–January in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (about 60%), as the share of wildlife watchers who report a Black-bellied Plover on a given day. Each park's Black-bellied Plover page has the full month-by-month chart.
