Pluvialis squatarola
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The grey plover or black-bellied plover (Pluvialis squatarola) is a large plover breeding in Arctic regions. It is a long-distance migrant, with a nearly worldwide coastal distribution when not breeding. The grey plover was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tringa squatarola. It is now placed with three other plovers in the genus Pluvialis that was introduced by the French ornithologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The genus name is Latin and means relating to rain, from pluvia, "rain". It was believed that they flocked when rain was imminent. The species name squatarola is a Latinised version of Sgatarola, a Venetian name for some kind of plover.
The English common name used for this species differs in different parts of the world. It is generally known as "grey plover" in the Old World and "black-bellied plover" in the New World. Three subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Kuwait City | 🇰🇼 Kuwait | |
| 3 | Maputo | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 4 | Manama | 🇧🇭 Bahrain | |
| 5 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 6 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 7 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | Casablanca | 🇲🇦 Morocco | |
| 9 | Rabat | 🇲🇦 Morocco | |
| 10 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monterey Bay Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Seattle Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Montreal Biodome | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Seattle Marine Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-bellied Plover sighting in São Luís on a given day, based on 41 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 61st most-seen of the 74 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Black-bellied Plover in São Luís on a given day, against about 10% in May–September and December, the lowest months. That is one of São Luís's wettest months, with about 360 mm of rain against 15 mm in October.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-bellied Plover sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
11th of 75
Of the 75 cities where we can rate Black-bellied Plover sightings, São Luís ranks 11th at about 10%. The best odds are in Zanzibar City (Tanzania, about 40%), Kuwait City (Kuwait, about 30%) and Maputo (Mozambique, about 20%).
Same family: Charadriidae
The closest relatives of the Black-bellied Plover that you can see in São Luís (family Charadriidae, Plovers and Lapwings) are Semipalmated Plover (about 40%) and Southern Lapwing (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-bellied Plover is recorded against all the birds logged in São Luís (41 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
